In Kerala, nearly half of Congress’ MLA-elects are young faces

The crop of young Congress leaders, all first-time legislators, are impatiently waiting to kick-start their electoral politics in Kerala even as the elders of the party are grappling with the selection of its Chief Minister candidate.

Around 30 young workers of the Congress emerged victorious in the recent Assembly elections. This accounts for nearly half the seats won by the party and the MLA elects include leaders of the Kerala Students Union and the Youth Congress. Some of them emerged giant killers, defeating Ministers and veteran leaders.

While Youth Congress leader Abin Varkey defeated Health Minister Veena George, M.M. Naseer trounced Animal Husbandry Minister J. Chinchurani and Vidya Balakrishnan defeated Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran. V.S. Joy defeated former Minister K.T. Jaleel and Sudheer Sha Palode stopped D.K. Murali. Youth Congress State president O.J. Janeesh won the Kodungalloor seat. A.D. Thomas, a 30-year-old Congress worker from Alappuzha, would be the baby in the upcoming Assembly.

While the average age of senior Congress leaders in the State was around 65 years, the new leadership is found to be younger by at least 20 years.

“Though the Congress had fielded many youngsters in 2021 too, it was this time that the largest number of youngsters emerged victorious,” observes K. Babu, six-time MLA from Thripunithura who hung up his boots from electoral politics a few months ago.

“The organisational preparedness, favourable political climate, outrage against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, the consolidation of minority votes and support from the majority community did the magic. The youngsters will see the party through at least for the next 15 years,” he hoped.

The infusion of fresh blood, says Benny Behanan, MP, into the organisation was the outcome of the decision of the central leadership of the party. Representation of youth and women was ensured on the candidates’ list, he said.

Mr. Behanan, who has been in electoral politics for nearly 45 years, observed that the average age of the new leaders was around 45 years. It’s for the first time in recent years that the party and the Assembly are witnessing a surge in the number of women and youth leaders, he said. The young leaders easily connect with the youngsters. They also represent the aspirations and hopes of the new generation of voters, he observed. 

Mr. Thomas felt that the Congress’s surgical strike to field the maximum number of youth and student activists brought rich dividends. The young candidates connected well with Gen Z and young voters and won the popular mandate, he added.

Incidentally, the party sources indicated that the selection of the Chief Minister candidate from among the claimants—All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and senior leader Ramesh Chennithala may take some more time.