All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal has reportedly said at the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee’s (KPCC) leadership meeting that there would be no second chances or posts offered to prospective party candidates who fail in the 2026 Assembly elections.
According to party sources, Mr. Venugopal termed the polls as an existential battle. He said meritocracy would play a major role in candidate selection.
The sources said they could not comment on whether the meeting had considered fielding Congress MPs in the Assembly polls to improve the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) chances of winning. However, they said incumbent Congress MLAs stood a better chance of running the gauntlet in their home turf, except perhaps in the Palakkad Assembly segment.
They said the Congress might grant an allowance to senior leaders, if they requested, to stay out of the fray.
At the meeting, the party’s booth committees were asked to conduct house visits and engage voters in doorstep conversations to secure votes in favour of the UDF in the 2026 Assembly elections.
Mr. Venugopal chaired the meeting, which proposed an eight-day campaign as a counter to the Left Democratic Front (LDF)’s household-level outreach programme involving top leaders including Ministers.
Congress leaders would oversee the door-to-door campaigning.
Published – February 16, 2026 09:58 pm IST
