Posting a picture from the Kerala leaders’ interaction with the media after the meeting, Gandhi said on Facebook: “They stand as one, united by the light of purpose ahead.” His post was accompanied by the hashtag, “Team Kerala”.
The nearly-three-hour meeting at the Congress’s Indira Bhawan headquarters here on Friday had discipline, unity and the strengthening of the state organisation as its running theme.
Close on the heels of a row over its MP Shashi Tharoor’s recent remarks, the Congress top brass issued a stern warning to its Kerala leaders, asserting that strong action will be taken against those making comments that go against the party’s interests.
At the meeting, Gandhi said leaders should be very careful about the party’s political strategy and should not do or say anything that does not toe the organisation’s line, according to sources.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge laid stress on discipline, ensuring unity and filling up vacant posts to strengthen the party’s Kerala unit. Besides Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kerala Congress chief K Sudhakaran, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan, Thiruvananthapuram MP Tharoor and AICC in-charge of Kerala Deepa Dasmunshi, among others, were present at the meeting. “We got a clear indication from our high-command that the Congress is very much connected with the people of Kerala emotionally and politically. People are looking for a change, so we should not do anything that will disrespect the people of Kerala.
“This was a clear indication and if anyone (says) anything personally, we will take strong action. Because we have no right to disrespect the people of Kerala,” Dasmunshi told reporters after the meeting.
The meeting with the senior leaders from Kerala came close on the heels of a row over Tharoor’s recent article in a newspaper that drew criticism from some party leaders over the former Union minister’s “praise” of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the southern state for boosting the investment climate.
Later, Tharoor’s remarks in a Malayalam podcast were seen by many as pitching himself for leadership in the state, which upset a section of leaders in the Kerala Congress.
The Congress is the main opposition party in Kerala and is seeking to wrest power from the LDF.
The Assembly polls are due in Kerala in March-April next year.
