: Congress leaders in the State will have to grapple with All India Congress Committee (AICC) vice president Rahul Gandhi’s agenda for reconstituting the Kerala Students Union (KSU), the student feeder organisation of the party.
Mr. Gandhi’s main agenda appears to be debug factionalism from the students organisation, considered as the entry level for budding politicians, and drafting a new set of leaders owing loyalty to him. As part of this agenda, Mr. Gandhi has constituted a six-member ad hoc coordination committee of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) to monitor the functioning of its Kerala unit till the completion of membership drive and organisation revamp.
The members
The six-member committee has Sravan Rao, secretary NSUI in charge of the KSU, Sajeev Joseph, KPCC general secretary, Hibi Eaden, former NSUI and KSU president, Roji M. John, former NSUI president, former KSU presidents P.C. Vishnunath and Shafi Parambil.
Mr. Gandhi had earlier annulled the constitution of the KSU on the ground that it did not have the NSUI clearance.
An earlier attempt to reconstitute the KSU and the Youth Congress through a different election process a few years ago did throw up a new set of leaders who would not have got the break if the traditional pattern of nominations had been followed. But when it came to its functioning, the KSU fell into a factional grove. The Youth Congress also went into such a track, with factionalism continuing to hold sway. Some of the Youth Congress leaders such as Manacuad Rajesh and Shiras Khan, State secretaries of the organisation, have petitioned the party leadership seeking a level playing field for young aspiring youths above factional considerations. The attempt to tackle factionalism in the feeder organisation appears to be going hand in hand with the one being made in the KPCC and DCC.
With Mr. Gandhi expected to assume the mantle of leadership in the Congress, the current round of revamp in the KSU and the Youth Congress is likely to induct a new set of leaders who would owe their jobs to Mr. Gandhi rather than faction leaders here, it is pointed out.
