Congress' central leadership holds meeting with Kerala leaders to discuss strategy for Assembly election

New Delhi [India], February 28 : Congress' central leadership on Friday held a meeting with the top leaders of the party from Kerala to discuss strategy for the Assembly election in the State due next year.
After the meeting, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Congress-led United Democratic Front will come to power in Kerala, defeating both the "oppressive and communal fronts" in the State.
"Change is inevitable in Kerala. Congress has built the development paradigm and welfare model of Kerala, and we will do everything possible to bring our UDF to power," Kharge said in a post on X.
"Next year, people will defeat both the oppressive and communal fronts in the state. We held a meeting of @INCKerala leaders where we deliberated on our political strategy and the future of the state," he added
AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala, Deepa Dasmunshi, said that Kharge told Kerala leaders to keep unity and discipline in the party.
"Our Party president Kharge ji said that we all should follow a discipline in the party. Secondly, the leaders should be united and there should be a collective leadership. He also said that we should not underestimate our party workers," Dasmunshi told reporters.
"Rahul ji said he was in Kerala for 5 years, and he understood the emotional connect with the people of Kerala. So, we should not disrespect the people of Kerala. There is no doubt that no one in the Kerala Congress party is pro-LDF or pro-BJP. We decided that there should be one narrative of the party and no one should give their own opinion different from this narrative. Everyone should speak on the same line in the same voice," she added.
Congress leader Ramesh Chenithalla described the meeting as "very positive" and said that there is no "infighting" in the party.
"Today's meeting was very positive. Rahul ji, Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka ji were there. We are all together. Now, we have to live up to the expectations of the people of Kerala. There is no infighting, and we decided to go together," Chenithalla said.
Kerala Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, and Kerala Congress Chief K Sudhakaran were among the participants in the meeting.
The meeting has been held against the backdrop of local reports that K Sudhakaran will be replaced ahead of the upcoming Assembly election and Shashi Tharoor's remarks in a podcast that there is a dearth of leadership in the Kerala unit of the party. Tharoor also praised the industrial policy of the Left government in the state, creating political controversy.
The upcoming Assembly election is crucial for the Congress as the party lost in the last two Assembly elections in the State.