Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 15 Lacking a political think tank, the Congress in Kerala on Tuesday decided to set up one and appointed veteran Cheriyan Phillip as its first director.
Phillip, 67, was in the news in October last year, when he returned to the Congress after two decades of being a fellow traveller with the CPI-M.
Ever since his return, Congress state President K. Sudhakaran was mulling the possibility of opening a 'Political Study Centre' to take on important issues after doing a proper homework, as he felt that was the only way to counter the CPI-M.
Phillip, who left the Congress, upset of not having been given a safe assembly seat to contest in the 2001 Assembly polls, became a fellow traveller of the CPI-M, who gave him a seat to contest at the 2001, 2006 and 2011 Assembly polls, but he lost on all three occasions.
Best known for being the "shadow" of Congress veteran A.K. Antony for a few decades till he left the party, Phillip is often regarded as a "thinker", and hence the new post of director fits the bill for him.
Ever since Sudhakaran was appointed as the new President of the Congress state unit after the April 2021 Assembly poll debacle, he has been able to infuse some enthusiasm in the party at the grass root levels and is sure that Phillip will be able to bring more life into the party.
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