Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s statements indicating his willingness to be the CM candidate for Congress in the 2026 assembly polls along with NSS (Nair Service Society) president Sukumaran Nair showering praises on Tharoor has created resentment and anguish among congress leadership towards the NSS which has delved into the internal affairs and over measuring the ‘stature’ of senior congress leaders by holding them responsible for the party’s loss in the 2021 assembly polls.
“The UDF’s failure in the previous election happened when the Congress party upheld Ramesh Chennithala as the chief ministerial candidate. The party could have avoided this by foregrounding Ummen Chandy. The minorities which always supported the Congress voted for LDF to avoid the growth of BJP. The public lost its trust in the congress”, said Sukumaran Nair while speaking to a national daily. Incidentally, it was at the same conversation that Mr Nair hailed Shashi Tharoor stated that Shashi Tharoor was a potential Prime ministerial candidate, but he did not receive the support from his colleagues in the party.
The balanced reaction from senior congress leaders to Sukumaran Nair’s statement indicated that the party is planning to take a guarded approach and thus not willing to create any damage to its relationship with the community leadership.
Chennithala said that he has never been branded a “Nair” by anyone. Speaking to reporters after inaugurating a dharna by dairy farmers at the Milma headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, Chennithala said he had always been secular. “I will always remain secular. The Congress party has always taken a similar stand. I was not projected as the chief ministerial candidate in the 2021 Assembly election”.
Meanwhile, VD Satheeshan said that every organization has the right to criticise a political party and community outfits have the liberty to criticise the leadership.
The bonhomie between Sukumaran Nair and the two senior congress leaders – Ramesh Chennithala and VD Satheeshan has been on a rough patch ever since the Ummen Chandy-led Congress regime came to end in 2016. Prior to 2016, both Chennithala and Satheeshan were the blue-eyed boys of the NSS. The equations changed when Chennithala was anointed as the Home minister and Satheeshan elevated as the leader of opposition. However, later on various occasions NSS chief Sukumaran Nair expressed his displeasure over the ‘conduct’ of the senior leaders. In all such instances, both senior leaders never expressed their displeasure in public against the statements by Sukumaran Nair.
The current political and social scenario however has strained their ties further with Sukumaran Nair openly throwing his weight behind Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor and questioning the political calibre of Ramesh Chennithala and Satheeshan. With Tharoor hinting that he will contest for the 2026 state assembly polls and Satheeshan stating that it is the party that will decide on the candidature, it is a clear indication that the fissures within the party is still existing and the party leadership has to draw a line over senior leaders issuing statements that damage the prospects of the grand old party.
