Kerala polls: KC Venugopal warns Congress leaders against self-declaring candidatures

All India Congress Committee (AICC) General-Secretary and MP KC Venugopal on Sunday (January 4) warned leaders of his party against announcing their own candidature for the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala and advised them to wait for the party to take the final call.

The Alappuzha parliamentarian said this while speaking at the inaugural session of a two-day leadership camp — Lakshya 2026 — held as part of the preparations for this year’s polls at Sultan Bathery in Wayanad.

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“We should not make self-announcements about candidature. Let us wait for the party’s declared decision,” Venugopal said.

He added that leaders have the freedom to hold discussions with the party leadership but cautioned against discussing candidature-related issues publicly.

“You can raise demands before the leadership and use all such opportunities, but candidature-related discussions should be restricted in public forums,” he said.

For UDF, LDF and BJP are common foes: Venugopal

Venugopal said the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) sees both the state’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Bharatiya Janata Party as common rivals. The UDF was last in power in Kerala in 2011 and lost two successive elections in 2016 and 2021.

Also read: 2026 elections: LDF, UDF and BJP enter election mode in Kerala

However, the results of the recent local body elections showed that Congress can effectively take on both parties. The Grand-Old Party swept the polls held in December to put the state's LDF government in a spot of bother, ahead of the big battle of 2026.

Venugopal confident after local body polls

“The (local body polls) victory has given confidence to Congress workers that even if the CPI(M) and BJP combine, we can face them,” he said.

Venugopal also said the local body election victory should make Congress leaders more humble.

“People are the masters of democracy. We should humbly strengthen our political activities before the public over the next four months,” he added.

Accuses CPI(M) and BJP of colluding

Venugopal said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s confidence about coming to power for a third consecutive term had suffered a setback after the local body election results.

Also read: 2026 Assembly polls: BJP’s long march meets its first major test

“But Pinarayi will not sit back. There are backstage discussions going on,” he said.

He alleged that the Communist Party of India (CPI-M) and the BJP have a secret alliance, which, he claimed, has become evident in recent months.

He further alleged that the haste shown by the Kerala government in matters related to certain central projects pointed to an unholy pact between the two parties.

“This alliance is not liked by workers of either party. It exists to protect the interests of certain leaders in both camps and will continue into the Assembly election,” he said.

Congress holds 'Lakshya 2026' to discuss strategies

‘Lakshya 2026’ is being organised to discuss strategies for the upcoming Assembly polls and is being attended by prominent Congress leaders, including KPCC (Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee) leaders, party MLAs, MPs and leaders of affiliated organisations.

Also read: How voting patterns undid LDF dominance in Mattathur; BJP gained at Congress' expense

Venugopal said the Congress has decided to announce its candidates well ahead of the election notification and move forward with campaign activities.

Recently, V D Satheesan, Congress leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, had said that 50 per cent of the party’s candidates would be women and young leaders.

(With agency inputs)