Thiruvananthapuram ∙ Ghulam Nabi Azad had always had a close relationship with Kerala. Finally, he made a request to the top leaders of the state: ‘When AK Antony leaves the Rajya Sabha, can you consider nominating my name from Kerala instead?’ Had that demand been met, perhaps Ghulam Nabi Azad would have continued in the Congress.
Ghulam Nabi from Kerala instead of Antony was acceptable to most of the Kerala leaders. The Muslim League informally shared the same interest. But no one took the ‘risk’ of bringing this suggestion to Rahul Gandhi. Here the leaders got indications that the high command is not interested in bringing Nabi Ghulam back to the Rajya Sabha.
He mentioned this to the Kerala leaders without using his authority as the most prominent leader in India. Most of them are friends of Prophet Ghulam. A strong leader who had a close relationship with the state leadership since the days of Youth Congress and found solutions to organizational problems in the state many times left the party. Except for VM Sudheeran, no one is ready to give a public response, but the leadership of the state is in shock and difficulty.
K. Karunakaran-AK Antony was a mediator who did not go to the slum war explosions. In 2001, the UDF came to power with 99 seats and Ghulam Nabi was in charge of the elections. The last time the UDF won an official victory in the state was in 2001. In 2011, the Oommen Chandy government came but with a narrow majority.
After the split in 1978, when he became the National Secretary of the Youth Congress, he got a Malayali friend as his co-chairman: K. Vasudevapaniker. Ghulam Nabi had a very close relationship with Panicker who later became the General Secretary of AICC. Ghulam Nabi established more relations with the leaders of Kerala while he was the National President of the Youth Congress. Ramesh Chennithala was the National President of NSU at that time.
Although he was later transferred from the charge of Kerala, he kept a close eye on the developments in the state. Ghulamnabi intervened when KM Mani left the UDF and when he came back. There is no other leader whom the League trusted to present their problems to the Congress High Command.
English Summary: Ghulam Nabi Azad wished to get rajya sabha membership from kerala