How Rahul Gandhi's displeasure with Kerala poll list led to marathon midnight meet

The Congress has announced candidates for 92 seats so far in Kerala. India Today has exclusively learnt that Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, was unhappy with the method of choosing candidates and that led to a marathon meeting recently.

In Short

• Marathon meeting went on from 10:30 pm on Saturday to 2:30 am on Sunday
• It happened at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence
• Meeting occurred due to concerns from Rahul Gandhi over seat allocation

For a Congress beat reporter, 10:30 pm in Delhi usually signals the end of the day. But this Wednesday was different. The first list of candidates for next month's Kerala Assembly elections had already been released, and I was heading home from the field when a source flagged unusual activity – several cars were entering 10 Rajaji Marg, the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Curious, I made a few calls and figured out that a crucial meeting of the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) was about to begin. Apparently, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, had expressed dissatisfaction with the ticket distribution exercise in Kerala.

According to sources, Rahul Gandhi pushed for a more structured presentation in the CEC — factoring in caste equations, winnability and electoral track records — rather than relying solely on names recommended by the state unit.

The meeting, which began around 10:30 pm, stretched till 2:30 am. In this marathon session, Rahul Gandhi, Kharge, and other senior leaders reviewed candidates in detail and took a key decision: no sitting MP would be fielded in the Assembly elections.

Such late-night deliberations are rare in the Congress – at least in the past five years I have spent as a beat reporter – underscoring the importance the party is attaching to the Kerala polls. Such a phenomenon is more frequently witnessed in the BJP, where late-night meetings are quite frequent given that the Prime Minister, Home Minister and Defence Minister are involved in such meetings.

VENUGOPAL CAMP DOMINATES CANDIDATE LIST

A source, part of Kerala Congress election machinery, told India Today TV that roughly 60 per cent of the candidates can be identified as close to Lok Sabha MP and party general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal. The source explained that one first list of 55 candidates for Kerala had around 17 from KC Venugopal's group, nine from Ramesh Chennithala and five from the VD Satheeshan group.

Several MPs also managed to get one or two seats each for people close to them. As per sources, Shashi Tharoor didn't seek ticket for any of his candidates and majorly didn't intervene in ticket distribution. A Congress leader, part of the CEC meetings, told India Today TV that although names did come from many state leaders, but tickets were awarded only after full scrutiny like survey ratings and feedback from district Congress committees.

The party is expected to contest around 95 seats out of 140 seats along with its alliance partners. Out of 22 sitting MLAs, the grand old party has repeated 19 candidates and is now quite confident of victory after ticket distribution.

MAJORITY TICKETS TO CHRISTIANS, NAIRS AND EZHAVAS

The Congress seems to be banking heavily this time on Christians as party had awarded 22 tickets to Christian candidates, with 10 going alone to Syro-Malabar community. The party has also given 21 tickets to the Nair community and 20 to Ezhava candidates.

While Muslims have been given 12 tickets, the Congress awarded three tickets to the Brahmin community as well to keep its social maths correct. Keeping the age bar a bit lower, 52 of the announced 92 candidates are below 50 years of age.

CLEAR ‘NO’ TO MPs TO FIGHT ASSEMBLY POLLS

At least five MPs, including K Sudhakaran, Adoor Prakash and Shafi Parambil, had expressed interest in contesting the Kerala Assembly polls. However, Rahul Gandhi was firm that fielding MPs would mean multiple Lok Sabha bypolls and could create confusion over the chief ministerial face.

A source within the Congress said if the party secures a majority, the MLAs could still propose an MP as chief minister, and such a suggestion would be considered.

ALL IS STILL NOT WELL

Despite the extensive exercise, discontent persists within the party. Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed has flagged the issue of poor representation of women in the ticket distribution.

She pointed out that only 9 of the 92 declared seats have been allotted to women candidates. Tagging Rahul Gandhi on X, she urged him to intervene and address what she described as the party’s apathy towards women in Kerala.

Sources said Shama was herself seeking a ticket from Kannur, in case sitting MP K Sudhakaran chose not to contest from the seat, and is now miffed with the state leadership.

- Ends