As the Assembly election campaign races to a close, G. Parameshwar, the AICC observer for Kerala, has denied the Congress has missed the starting gun.
Speaking to The Hindu, he said bickering over candidate selection and argument with coalition partners over seat-sharing were usual in politics. Such initial hiccups would have no bearing on electioneering or poll results.
Mr. Parameshwar slammed the surveys that gave an advantage to the LDF. He said the pollsters had concluded the surveys ahead of the Congress candidate selection and publication of the party's election manifesto. The random sampling had not even skimmed the surface of public opinion.
The Congress had no tacit alliance with any fundamentalist outfit. The CPI(M) charge that the Congress had covertly aligned itself with the Jamaat-e-Islami in Kerala was false.
Some persons might have met leaders of such outfits at an individual level. But such audiences have no relevance for the Congress as a national party. The Congress swore by national integration. It had lost leaders to acts of terrorism.
Mr. Parameshwar said the Congress had not stressed on total prohibition because socio-economic priorities had shifted. Ideologically, the party was against the sale and consumption of liquor. It would strive for a liquor and substance abuse-free society. But currently, the concept was too utopian to implement as policy. Karnataka's third-biggest revenue stream was excise duty from liquor sales.
The Congress would ensure that more women qualified for political office. Its candidate list has factored in the generational shift and caste and community demographics. However, the chance of securing a win has trumped other determinants.
He said Rahul Gandhi's presence in Kerala was a game-changer. His campaigning had swung the Lok Saba elections in 2019 in favour of the UDF in Kerala.
Mr. Gandhi's explicit pitch to youth and marginalised sections would help the UDF coast to victory in the Assembly polls. His presence had energised Congress workers and breathed life into the party's election apparatus.
