The upcoming Assembly elections are crucial for the revival of the Congress, which has the highest political stakes in two of the five poll-bound states — Kerala and Assam.

Tariq Anwar, the Congress general secretary in charge of Kerala, concedes that groupism is hurting but exudes confidence that the party will snatch power from the Left. He also confronts NCP veteran Sharad Pawar on his prediction of a possible Congress defeat in Assam. Excerpts from the interview:

Q: There is a general perception the Left government is coming back in Kerala.

Anwar: This perception is erroneous. Those who have presumed there is no anti-incumbency in Kerala are either unaware of the issues and the public sentiment or are underestimating the Congress. We will form the government.

Q: Isn’t the chief minister’s image an advantage for the LDF and the absence of a projected leader a handicap for the Congress-led UDF?

Anwar: I don’t know how the image of the chief minister can be good when the main accused in the gold smuggling case says everything was being done at his behest. The central agencies have filed a case. There are several scams.

Temporary workers hired by the state government, all CPM workers, have been regularised without any recruitment process by the state public service commission. The youth sees this as injustice as they were not given an opportunity to compete.

Q: But the Congress has been alleging that central agencies are executing the vendetta politics of the Narendra Modi government. How does that change in Kerala?

Anwar: Because we know how corrupt this government has been. The main accused is saying something on record. The CPM state secretary’s son is involved. We can’t ignore facts even as there is no denying that Modi has been extremely vindictive and has misused central agencies across India.

Q: There is a belief the Congress was engrossed in groupism instead of fighting the Left.

Anwar: It is unfortunate that senior Congress leaders in many states are not united. It is perhaps (because) the Congress is a democratic space and allows people to express their views. We don’t crush dissent. But we have tried to resolve issues. What is good is that candidates were not selected on the basis of factional demands. We went for merit and a clean image.

Q: Your ally, the NCP’s Sharad Pawar, has said the BJP will win in Assam. Was this a glimpse of future politics when regional players will corner the Congress on the question of leadership in the Opposition camp?

Anwar: I strongly disagree with Pawar. He may not have the correct input. I have been to Assam and we are winning that state. As far as leadership of the Opposition is concerned, nobody can fight Modi like Rahul does. There is no dispute about it.