With the Assembly elections in Kerala approaching and the race for power heating up, Ramesh Chennithala, a senior Congress leader and head of the party’s election campaign committee, spoke to HT about the party’s election strategy, key poll plans and other key issues.
Question: The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has suffered successive defeats in the Lok Sabha elections in the state. What are your chances this time?
A: First, the 2021 House elections took place in the shadow of the coronavirus… At that time, the LDF government was seen as the savior. People were starving and the government was paying pensions and distributing food and medicine. At that time, all ruling governments gained an advantage, as in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and even the United Kingdom. Secondly, (Narendra) Modi does not want a Congress government here. He wants Congress-Mukt Bharat, so he does not mind re-electing the CPI(M) government. According to our data, in 69 constituencies, (a portion of) NDA votes went to CPI(M). These are the reasons for the defeat of 2021. But now, people are disappointed. Ten years is a long time and people want change…Unfortunately nothing has been done in the past ten years…The common man is facing a major crisis…All these factors will help us form an alternative government.
Question: Do you think that a negative vote against the LDF government or a positive vote in favor of the United Democratic Front will bring you to power?
A: Both work. We are certainly highlighting the government’s mistakes and at the same time telling voters what we plan to do if elected. We will transform Kerala’s economy. Our public debt has increased $1 lakh crore to $6.5 million crores. The public treasury is empty and there is no proper collection of taxes.
Question: But the Prime Minister and the LDP government seem to believe that their focus on infrastructure, especially national highway expansion projects, upgrading of schools and hospitals using funds from the Kerala Infrastructure and Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) and improving the state in ease of doing business rankings, has spread goodwill among the public. How do you respond?
A: The KIIFB model is off-balance sheet borrowing. Where does the money come from? When we buy 1 liter of gasoline $2 will go to KIIFB. KIIFB’s only return is the issuance of masala bonds. It was very foolish because the interest rate is 9.75%. They expect that they have launched valuable projects $1 lakh crore using KIIFB funds. This is completely not true. This is not the first time that school buildings have been constructed in Kerala. They were built in the time of the Maharaja and by Christian missionaries as well. Today, KIIFB funds are being misused for advertisements. There is no flat ground for us.
Q: Where does the Congress stand in the conflict between the Kerala government and the Center over the financial dues owed to the state? If you are voted into power, how will you cover the state’s exorbitant expenses, most notably the draft social welfare pension law?
A: We will find new ways to produce revenue. This does not mean that we will tax people. There are a lot of loopholes in the current system. We will plug the loopholes and any public debt we take on will be used to generate revenue. The CPI (Maoist)-led government has not repaid the public debt. Every government must take on the public debt. But there is a cap – due to the Fiscal Responsibility Act passed by Parliament, 3% of GDP will be the maximum limit for public debt. Naturally, we support more central assistance and every country is calling for it. When the officials of the 15th Finance Commission came here, we also demanded 50-50 share of revenue model… At the same time, when we come to power, we will cut all kinds of excess expenditures as well as unproductive programs that will eat up a lot of money from the Centre.
Question: With the next elections approaching, have the United Democratic Front and the Congress reached an understanding on seat sharing? Are the candidates finalized?
A: We have already begun discussions with the United Democratic Front partners. 75% to 80% of this work is done. Within Congress, we have had a series of discussions about the candidates. We will announce the first list of candidates within 2-3 days of the election announcement. There will be no major change in seat sharing between allies.
Question: One of the accusations that opposition parties like the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the Bharatiya Janata Party are leveling against your party is internal division and how that will affect governance if voted to power. Is there any sectarianism? Will the conference announce a candidate for prime minister?
A: There is no major conflict in the party in Kerala. Everyone works together. Everyone wants to see that the next government will be our government. Naturally, there are a lot of people who are qualified to be the Chief Minister of Kerala. Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Karge invited all of us to Delhi and discussed the pros and cons… Leadership will be decided by the high command. His decision will be acceptable to everyone.
Question: Kerala is very key in the Congress party’s election campaigns, especially after a series of defeats in states like Bihar and Delhi. Central Command has a lot of expectations. As head of the campaign committee, are you confident of victory?
A: Sure, we will win by a good margin. We are aiming for 100 seats out of 140 and a comfortable majority.
Question: In the Sabarimala gold heist case, fingers were also pointed at the Congress over the photographs of Sonia Gandhi and Adoor Prakash with prime accused Unnikrishnan Bute. Were you able to explain that to people?
A: Nowadays, when people come to meet the leaders, we all take pictures. You can’t say no to them. Perhaps someone went with Unnikrishnan Butte to meet the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi. It was 15 years ago. And they took a picture. There is also a photo of the Prime Minister with a potty. If so, the Prime Minister should be questioned. Sonia Gandhi is the type of person who will not have any ties with such people. At the time, Botti was not the culprit. Later, perhaps he became one. As far as Adoor Prakash is concerned, he is the Member of Parliament from Attingal. So maybe he was called for some tasks by Potty.
Question: Another issue that has bothered the Congress a lot is the sexual assault allegations against Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, who is now expelled from your party. Why did your party not conduct any background checks at the time of filing for the by-election?
A: Well, that’s not possible. At that time, he was the elected president of the Youth Congress and held the ticket in that capacity. We don’t know about the personal details of the person.
Q: How do you see the growth of the BJP in Kerala? The party has influence in some key pockets in the state and is able to influence Congress votes there.
A: Earlier, it was the case that the BJP was eating into Congress votes in certain areas. But during the recent LS elections, things changed. BJP eats votes from CPI(M) more than us. I don’t think the BJP will play a major role in these elections. I don’t see them winning any seats here.
Q: Do you think that the Liberal Democracy Alliance and the National Democratic Rally are equal competitors?
A: Actually, the LDP is the main competitor, because they are in the government. The BJP is not an important factor here today. So our main struggle will be with the LDF. But we will keep an eye on the BJP.
