In Kerala, K C Venugopal’s growing footprint fuels unease, CM race in Congress; draws CPI(M) fire

The CPI(M), which is a constituent of the Opposition INDIA alliance at the national level, has stepped up its attacks on Venugopal at a time when the state Congress circles are also abuzz with his growing clout in the party unit.

Sharpening the Left’s attack on Venugopal, senior CPI(M) leader and education minister V Sivankutty on Friday called him a “Trojan horse” of the BJP, who were, he alleged, together plotting to “destroy” the Congress. Sivankutty alleged that Venugopal was giving “wrong advice” to Rahul Gandhi and was implementing a strategy that would “weaken” the Congress in every state.

The immediate trigger for Sivankutty to target Venugopal was the latter’s allegation that the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government was implementing the BJP policies in Kerala. The AICC general secretary flagged the education department’s recent decision to roll out the PM SHRI project in Kerala schools, which has now been put on hold following a blowback from within the LDF.

Venugopal also alleged that the Vijayan government had tried to implement the new labour codes brought by the BJP-led Centre in the state.

Sivankutty is also the minister for the labour department, which had framed and notified a regulation related to the labour codes in the state in 2021. It is another matter that the Left parties and unions have been up in arms against the labour codes, which were recently notified – more than five years after they were passed in Parliament.

Venugopal, 62, is currently considered to be the most influential Congress leader at the national level from Kerala, who has maintained an active presence in state politics, which has made his detractors in the faction-ridden party unit uneasy.

Earlier this month, when the INDIA bloc or Mahagathbandhan suffered a humiliating loss in the Bihar Assembly elections at the hands of the NDA, the Kerala CPI(M) put the blame on Venugopal.

State CPI(M) secretary M V Govindan said that instead of strengthening the anti-BJP alliance in Bihar, Venugopal was engaged in “consolidating” his position in the Congress in Kerala.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when Venugopal, then a Rajya Sabha member elected from Rajasthan, decided to contest from Alappuzha, the CPI(M) had dubbed it an attempt to “strengthen” the BJP in the Upper House. The CPI(M)’s contention was that upon getting elected to the Lok Sabha, Venugopal will have to resign from the Rajya Sabha, which would then lead to BJP increasing its tally in the Upper House.

While the CPI(M) leadership used this allegation against Venugopal to woo Muslim voters then, Venugopal registered a big win in his seat, defeating the CPI(M)’s candidate by over 63,000 votes.

Venugopal’s influence has been growing within the Congress since 2019, when he took charge as the AICC general secretary (organisation). He has since had a significant say on every organisational matter in Kerala, which led to a realignment of equations in the state Congress. This has created an impression in party circles that Venugopal would emerge as a major contender for the chief minister’s post in the event of the party-led UDF’s win in the state Assembly elections due in April 2026.

Venugopal’s increasing involvement in the Congress affairs across Kerala and his engagement with every state issue has created a buzz within the KPCC that he is jostling for the state’s top post along with other senior party leaders like V D Satheesan, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly, and Ramesh Chennithala, who are also in the CM race.

In the run-up to the December local body elections in the state, reckoned as the semi-finals for the Assembly elections, Venugopal is actively campaigning on the ground, addressing the party’s panchayat level conventions. Recently, reacting to reports about his active presence in the state, Venugopal said, “I will be active in Kerala, but that will not be with an eye on any chair.’’

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC)’s working president and MLA P C Vishnunadh hit back at the CPI(M) for targeting Venugopal. “He (Venugopal) is a Lok Sabha member elected by the people. Why CPI(M) should get restless over it. After he became the AICC general secretary (organisation), Congress has won Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh,” Vishnunadh said. “In the Bihar elections, he was there for 17 days. Why CPI(M)’s lone CM Pinarayi Vijayan did not go to campaign in Bihar for a single day despite the Left being a partner of the Mahagathbandhan. Every leader has a right to be active in his home state.