Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran on May 8 ended a week of speculation that his tenure hung in the balance by reclaiming his office at the Congress party’s State headquarters, Indira Bhavan, in Thiruvananthapuram with much fanfare.
Mr. Sudhakaran’s somewhat high-profile resumption of office came against the backdrop of the conjecture that the All India Congress Committee (AICC) had linked his continuation in office to the party’s faring at the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and wanted KPCC acting president M.M. Hassan to hold charge at least till mid-June.
Mr. Sudhakaran’s return to the KPCC headquarters was neither controversy-free nor a muted affair. His loyalists garlanded him outside Indira Bhavan. Mr. Sudhakaran entered the office with much flashiness and addressed the media.
Earlier, a phalanx of television camera crew tailed Mr. Sudhakaran and his entourage to the house of Congress veteran A.K. Antony.
Mr. Hassan, who held charge while Mr. Sudhakaran campaigned in Kannur Lok Sabha constituency, seemed conspicuous by his absence at Indira Bhavan.
Mr. Sudhakaran appeared not to hide his annoyance at Mr. Hassan’s truancy. “Mr. Hassan should have been here. Such courtesy is the choice of the individual and beyond the party’s diktat”, he said.
Mr. Sudhakaran denied that the AICC had reinstated him at the last minute after coming under pressure to maintain backward-class representation in the KPCC leadership.
He termed Mr. Hassan a stand-in president. “There is no question of a handover, for I was always the KPCC president. I merely assumed my office again”, he said.
Mr. Sudhakaran also appeared miffed that Mr. Hassan had reinstated some Congress leaders facing disciplinary action during the former’s absence.
He said the KPCC would review the decisions, including the reinstatement of M.A. Latheef, a Congress leader disciplined by the party on the charge of attempting to derail the election campaign of Congress candidate from Attingal, Adoor Prakash, MP.
Asked why Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan had stayed away from his resumption of office, Mr. Sudhakaran said rather acerbically: “He (Mr. Satheesan) is a multifaceted and busy person. I would have liked the presence of the entire top leadership. But, I did not invite or notify anyone personally.”
Mr. Sudhakaran sidestepped the question of why the decision to set aside organisational responsibility while campaigning as a candidate applied only to him and not to AICC general secretary, organisation, K.C. Venugopal who contested from the Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency.
Mr. Sudhakaran also hinted that he was in for the long run in Kerala. “I will lead the KPCC when it heads into the Kerala Assembly election campaign in 2026 unless the party high command decides otherwise”, he said.
Mr. Sudhakaran also seemed to name M. Liju, a young Congress leader from Alappuzha and a recent member of the KPCC political affairs committee, as the party’s standard-bearer for reinvigorating the organisation. “Leaders like Liju would strengthen the Congress at the grassroots level,” he said.
‘No truck with turncoats’
Mr. Sudhakaran said the KPCC would have no truck with “turncoats” like Anil K. Antony or Padmaja Venugopal.
He said both leaders had a head start in the Congress due to their political legacy and “betrayed” their parent organisation at an hour of need. “Both of them had no grouse to desert the party”, he said.
