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Lok Sabha elections are near and Congress seems to be running away. One after another, veteran leaders are leaving Congress. Then the question arises that what is causing such a situation. Congress General Secretary (Organization) is in the news these days regarding this controversy. Former party leader Sanjay Nirupam, while recently commenting on the Congress Party, had said that there are 5 centers of power in the party. He said that today Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal have become power centers in Congress. Kerala leader Padmaja Venugopal, who left the Congress, also said that today there is no one in the party to listen to us. Then this Congress leader is being interrogated.
The leader we are talking about here is Congress General Secretary (Organization) KC Venugopal. Even before, many Congress leaders have been considering Venugopal as the center of power of the Congress. Congress people say that nowadays KC Venugopal is the eyes and ears of the party. According to the report, the general secretary in charge of organization of AICC is today seen playing the same role for Rahul Gandhi, which Ahmed Patel once played for Sonia Gandhi. He is also accused of controlling other leaders' access to the Congress supremo.
political career
Let us tell you here that Venugopal first came into limelight in 1991 when the then Chief Minister of Kerala and his mentor Karunakaran gave him the Lok Sabha ticket from Kasaragod. He was only 28 at the time and was the president of the party's student wing, although he lost the election by a narrow margin. Venugopal first became MLA in 1996 and won again in 2001 and 2006. In 2004 he also became a minister in the Oman Chandi government. He remained a Lok Sabha MP until 2009 and became a Union Minister of State in the next two years. In 2014, when the Congress was wiped out across the country, Venugopal was one of the handful of MPs to win from Kerala and was made the party whip.
A student activist during his schooling, a volleyball player in college, a post-graduate in mathematics and a leader who has emerged from the violent politics of Kannur, Venugopal has shown acumen not only in politics but also in choosing parties. Knowing that loyalty is paramount in the Congress party, people close to him say he has shown his loyalty to the leadership.
Close associate of Rahul Gandhi
KC Venugopal has given many proofs of his political skills. His loyalists say that he convinced Rahul Gandhi to contest the 2019 elections from the second seat of Wayanad in Kerala because he had sensed the political atmosphere in UP. What happened was that Rahul Gandhi won from Wayanad and lost from Amethi. However, his critics at the time linked Rahul's defeat in Amethi and Congress' defeat in the Hindi belt to Rahul's decision to contest from Muslim-dominated Wayanad. But despite this, Venugopal's stature in the party did not diminish.
KC Venugopal, who is known to have a clean image, was chosen by Rahul Gandhi as the general secretary in-charge of the AICS organization in place of Ashok Gehlot. Then Gehlot was being sent to Rajasthan. Everyone was surprised by Rahul's decision as Venugopal had no experience in running an organization in the country and maintaining coordination with party leaders. But Venugopal won the trust of Rahul Gandhi and within three years he is playing an important role in Congress. His role in important tasks like getting important posts and election tickets in the party started being considered important.
Lok Sabha 2024
Congress released the first list of 39 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on March 8. In which KC Venugopal has also been fielded. The party has given ticket to KC Venugopal from Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat in Kerala. Venugopal is already a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan. Despite this, Congress decided to field its senior leader in the Lok Sabha elections. One reason behind this is that he had won from Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat of Kerala from 2009 to 2014. Venugopal did not contest elections from this seat in 2019. He went to Rajya Sabha in 2020. Due to his not contesting elections from this seat, this seat went out of the hands of Congress. Then in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he was again fielded from the same seat.
