By Shankar Raj*
Thiruvananthapuram: The rift in the Congress Party in Kerala widened when acting state unit president MM Hassan did not turn up to hand over charge to K Sudhakaran when the latter resumed duties as the full-fledged state Congress unit president on May 8, 2024.
The 76-year-old Congress warhorse had earlier threatened to revolt if he was not given charge. The party’s high command had asked him to wait to take charge till the results of the Lok Sabha were announced. But sensing that his detractors are trying to sideline him, Sudhakar put his foot down.
The party’s high command too wanted to avoid a controversy at this juncture which may have given the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi some dry political gunpowder to fire at the Congress.
Sudhakaran had stepped down from the post to contest Lok Sabha elections from Kannur constituency, which he represents.
Though Sudhakaran, a four-time MLA, had informed the party high command that he was not keen to stand for elections again, it forced on him after the Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPM) fielded its district secretary and senior functionary M V Jayarajan with an aim to regain its prestigious seat in the party bastion.
When Sudhakaran took back his post, he expressed his anger by overturning some of the decisions taken by Hassan.
“Nobody can take my chair,” he said, aiming at his detractors who are keen to see him go through the door. The party’s high command too is reportedly unhappy with Sudhakaran as he is highly prone to pick-up fights with senior party colleagues. He had earlier put the party in embarrassing situations with his comments.
Sudhakaran had taken charge as Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief soon after the Congress-led United Democratic Front suffered a severe drubbing in the 2021 assembly elections. He replaced Mullappally Ramachandran.
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Under his leadership, the Congress won the two by-elections — Thrikkakara and Puthuppally. However, then came the controversies. He sparked a row in 2022 by saying that political leaders from northern Kerala are “honest, straightforward and courageous” in comparison to their counterparts from south Kerala. After receiving flak, Sudhakaran withdrew the comment.
He also made several strong remarks against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the run-up to the assembly elections and after.
In February this year, when Congress party’s Samaragni Yatra reached Alappuzha, Sudhakaran hit headlines for using a foul word against opposition leader and senior party colleague V D Satheesan unaware that the cluster of mikes in front of him was switched on while talking to district leaders beside him.
*Shankar Raj is a former editor of The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala, and writes regularly on current affairs.
