THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: By forming a campaign committee comprising only senior leaders, the Congress High Command has indicated that a collective leadership will be leading the party in the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections. Further moves by Congress will not highlight any one person. The inclusion of AICC General Secretaries KC Venugopal and Tariq Anwar in the campaign committee makes it clear that control will be in the hands of the High Command.

By excluding the close ones of senior leaders from the committee, the High Command has indicated that the committee will not succumb to the supremacy of any one group. In light of the setbacks in the local elections, it also sends a clear message that the party needs to put in a great effort in order to make a comeback in the Assembly elections.

Special attention was paid to the inclusion of the leaders that stayed away from the party so as to put an end to the post-election dispute among leaders. Oommen Chandy is gaining equal importance with the opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. Oommen Chandy, who withdrew after the setback in the 2016 Assembly elections, is being brought back into the mainstream. Still, the Congress leadership has remained silent on who will become the chief minister if he comes to power.