Dear Shri K.C. Venugopal Ji,
I understand that you have staked your claim to the post of Chief Minister of Kerala. As the right-hand man of Rahul Gandhi, you may well have influenced the distribution of tickets to some of your followers, but that alone does not legitimise your claim.
You are the General Secretary of the Indian National Congress. If you claim credit for the party’s success in Kerala, you must also accept responsibility for its rout in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry. One also recalls your disappointing performance in Bihar, where your strategy arguably helped the Bharatiya Janata Party more than it did your own party.
If you believe that the people voted for you or even for the Congress, you are mistaken. They voted against the style and substance of governance associated with Pinarayi Vijayan. In fact, there is reason to believe that even sections of the Left electorate tactically supported the UDF in certain constituencies to send a message. You are, at best, a beneficiary of anti-incumbency.
When you won from Alappuzha in 2024, you had to resign from the Rajya Sabha. The vacancy that arose in Rajasthan was filled unopposed by a BJP candidate, costing the Congress a seat in the Upper House. These are not small matters in a closely contested national political landscape.
If you become Chief Minister, there will inevitably be two by-elections—one for the Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat and another for the Assembly, for which a Congress MLA will have to make way. And if, by chance, you are defeated, the UDF could find itself in disarray.
Malayalees, as you well know, are not easily overawed by power. Few communities in India are as quick to puncture political pretensions. A reading of Kunchan Nambiar is enough to remind one of that tradition.
My earnest appeal to you is to return to New Delhi and focus on rebuilding the Congress at the national level. Should the party regain its footing, you could well play a role akin to that of Amit Shah to Rahul Gandhi. Let the elected MLAs in Kerala choose their leader from among themselves, as is proper in a parliamentary democracy.
In the end, leadership is not merely about ambition but about judgment—the wisdom to recognise where one’s presence is most needed, and where restraint serves both the party and the public interest. History, after all, is kinder to those who strengthen institutions than to those who strain them for personal advancement.
Yours sincerely,
A.J. Philip
