Congress to keep war room buzzing to extend win streak in Kerala

KOCHI: Unlike the exuberance following the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress state unit may not be overly jubilant about its recent comprehensive win, where it restricted the Left and BJP to one seat each. The party’s current focus is on the upcoming local body and assembly elections.

To this end, the party plans to retain the war room established at the KPCC headquarters during the Lok Sabha elections for continued coordination. This 24/7 political command centre was pivotal to the party’s campaign, enabling candidates to effectively engage with voters and strategise on the ground through social media outreach and data analysis. According to party leaders, the KPCC has submitted a proposal to the national leadership to continue the war room to coordinate grassroots workers at the ward level. If approved by the AICC, the war room will serve as a central coordination hub at the party headquarters.

Encouraged by the success in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, the Congress national leadership had set up war rooms in several states to bolster preparations for the Lok Sabha polls. The central war room was headed by IAS officer-turned-politician Sasikanth Senthil S.

Following the national leadership’s directive, the war room was established on the first floor of Indira Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram. Around 20 tele-caller executives were employed to communicate with leaders from all 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, alongside other executives and data analysts. A floor above the war room was allocated for members of the media committee, social media cell and administration, who also coordinated the activities. These efforts were supervised by senior Congress leaders M Liju, Jaison Joseph, and Manacaud Suresh. The KPCC executive meeting which met after the LS polls hailed the leaders for their efforts.

However, M Liju, the chairman of the Kerala war room, said that the concept originated with the AICC, which will decide on the continuation of the war room. “As of now, it has not been dismantled. It will function as a coordination centre for the party, engaging in activities like data management,” he added.

Although party cadres in several constituencies ramped up their campaigns based on war room reports, there has been criticism in many areas that proper action was not taken. In light of this, the party will focus on strengthening its organisational structure at the grassroots level.