Vote for KC: UDF cancels Sandeep Varier's road shows in Trikaripur, disbands WhatsApp group

Kasaragod: Even as the Congress high command weighs its choice for Kerala’s next chief minister, MLA-elect Sandeep Varier is facing a backlash in Trikaripur after he reportedly backed K C Venugopal for the top post.

With Ramesh Chennithala understood to have stepped back from the race, the contest has now narrowed to two names: Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, who led the UDF’s election campaign, and Venugopal, the Alappuzha MP and Congress general secretary in charge of organisation.

UDF leaders in Trikaripur said they have, for now, cancelled Varier’s victory road shows across several local bodies after his preference for Venugopal became known.

After the election results were declared on May 4, Varier took out well-attended victory road shows in Trikaripur, Padna and Valiyaparamba panchayats.

“After that, he went to Thiruvananthapuram and voted for KC,” a UDF leader told Onmanorama. “As of now, we have decided not to hold road shows in Nileshwar municipality, Cheruvathur, Kayyur-Cheemeni, East Eleri and West Eleri panchayats,” he said.

From Thiruvananthapuram, Varier travelled to Delhi and returned to Kerala on Tuesday morning. He is expected in the constituency on Wednesday, May 13.

“The local bodies may organise independent receptions for him, but there will be no joint road shows for now,” the leader said.

Another UDF functionary said all celebrations have been paused for the moment, though he stopped short of directly linking it to the chief ministerial race. As of now, no events are being held in support of any chief ministerial candidate, he said. "If the high command picks KC over VD, there could be some venting of anger. But right now, the baby hasn’t been born yet. We are holding our horses,” he said.

Congress candidate Varier scripted a historic victory in the communist stronghold of Trikaripur, wresting the seat from the CPM for the first time by defeating the party's district secretariat member V P P Mustafa by 4,431 votes. The UDF’s vote share jumped by 11.22 percentage points to 48.63%, and the LDF's plunged by 7.67 percentage points to 46%.

The UDF camp was jubilant after the victory, and workers took out celebrations the next day in three panchayats. But Varier’s standing among sections of the cadre took a hit after a newspaper published a portion of a document showing the preferred CM candidates of Congress MLAs-elect from Kasaragod, Kannur and Wayanad districts.

According to the document, the preference of Udma MLA-elect K Neelakandan was left unrecorded, and sources said he did not back K C Venugopal. Sandeep Varier was shown backing Venugopal, along with Sajeev Joseph, T O Mohanan, KPCC president Sunny Joseph from Kannur district, and Wayanad MLAs-elect Usha Vijayan, I C Balakrishnan and T Siddique.

Tension spilt into a WhatsApp group of UDF leaders, mid-level functionaries and grassroots workers called UDF Trikaripur, where a fierce debate broke out before the administrator finally disbanded the group.

Workers backing Satheesan argued that if Varier owed gratitude to Venugopal for his candidature, the cadre too had a debt to Satheesan for reviving a front many believed had collapsed after the 2021 defeat.

One worker, Kamarudheen, wrote: “When Sandeep Varier reached a stage where he was unlikely to get a seat, KC gave him one. He returned that favour in full.

"But the front (UDF) was shattered and broken. We who carried the UDF to victory also owe a debt to our leader V D Satheesan, the man who reignited our passion and showed that Kerala still has an Opposition. We, too, will repay that debt.” He added: “Varier should stand not for personal interests, but with the larger interests of the workers who made him win.”

Another member, Mujithaba Periyoth, wrote: “KC alone is not the Congress. Just as VDS alone is not the Congress. And nobody said Sandeep Varier was anyone’s nominee (before the election).”

Backing Venugopal, Aboobackar Siddique wrote: “In this election, it was KC who held together and reassured leaders who lost seats, preventing them from switching sides. We have seen what happens otherwise in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Punjab.” As organisational general secretary, it was Venugopal's job to prevent defection in those states, too.

By then, the group administrator had had enough. “The election is over. For now, the group is being dissolved,” he wrote.