28-04-2025
Kerala Congress (M) looks to expand influence to coastal heartlands
Having long dominated the rubber heartlands of central Travancore, the Kerala Congress (M) led by Jose K. Mani now appears keen to carve out a fresh political constituency for it along Kerala's coastal belts.
In a calculated move to strengthen its foothold among coastal communities, particularly the Latin Catholics, the regional party is seeking to tap into the wave of anxiety triggered by the Centre's Blue Economy Policy. Sensing an opportunity to build momentum, the Kerala Youth Front (M) [KYF(M)], the party's youth wing, will launch a Coastal Protection March that seeks to rally support across Kerala's shoreline.
The march, to be inaugurated by party chairman Jose K. Mani, will begin from Kasaragod on May 1 and conclude at Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram on May 9, covering 670 km over nine days. Traversing through nine coastal districts, the march will stop at 50 key points and seek to connect fishing villages and communities along the way.
A series of public meetings will be held en route, with senior leaders including Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine and Government Chief Whip N. Jayaraj addressing gatherings to highlight the party's coastal vision.
According to Cyriac Chazhikadan, president of KYF(M), the march will raise three major demands including enactment of a law granting sea rights to coastal communities, complete cessation of sea sand mining and immediate implementation of the recommendations made by C.A.D.A.L. (Coastal Area Development and Livelihood), an organisation under the Latin Catholic church.
Party sources note that this initiative builds on a key demand raised by Jose K. Mani in the Rajya Sabha seeking sea rights for coastal communities, similar to the forest rights granted to indigenous groups. The rare public acknowledgment from the Catholic Church, hailing Mr. Mani's stance during the Rajya Sabha discussions on the Waqf Amendment Bill, has further bolstered the party's confidence in this coastal outreach.
'This should be seen as part of a strategic restructuring by the party, which has long balanced its traditional support from settler farmers with the evolving preferences of second-generation voters who are increasingly gravitating toward mainstream political parties,' observed a veteran Kerala Congress leader. He also attributes the move to a steady outmigration of the younger generation, particularly Syro-Malabar Catholics from central Travancore, causing a noticeable decline in the influx of young blood into the party.
