Chennithala chairman, Tharoor co-chairman of Congress campaign committee for Kerala polls

Congress (February 12, 2026) has formed two important panels for the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections; Party working committee member Ramesh Chennithala and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor were appointed chairman and co-chairman of the party’s campaign committee respectively.

Mr Tharoor’s appointment assumes significance just days after he met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to redress his grievances, after which he said “everything is fine” and “we are all on the same page”. Since then, Mr. Tharoor has been seen speaking prominently on behalf of the Congress and also initiated the debate on the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha.

Mr. Kharge approved the proposal to constitute campaign committee and manifesto committee of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee for the upcoming Assembly elections, a party statement said.

While Mr. Chennithala was elected chairman of the campaign committee, Mr. Tharoor was appointed as co-chairman. Congress MP Shafi Parambil will be the convener of the campaign committee, which has Hibi Eden, Roji M. John, CR Mahesh, Mathew Kuzhalnadan, Ramya Haridas, M. Liju and Deepthi Mary Varghese as members.

Congress MP Benny Behanan will be the chairman of the manifesto committee and his co-chairman will be the party’s top deputy in Lok Sabha Kodikkunnil Suresh. Dean Kuriakose and Jebi Mather will be members of the manifesto committee.

After meeting Mr Kharge and Mr Gandhi earlier this month, Mr Tharoor said he was very pleased with his meeting with senior Congress officials.

Mr Tharoor was upset about his treatment at a recent event in Kochi and the attempts by some leaders to ‘sideline’ him in Kerala. However, his problems appear to have been resolved and he is expected to play a key role in the party’s campaigns for the Kerala elections.

The Kerala elections are vital for the Congress, which is trying to wrest power from the Left after 10 years in Opposition, and the party is doing its best to secure victory in the southern state.

Elections are expected to be held in April-May.