On 21 March, KC Venugopal, General Secretary-Organisation of the All-India Congress Committee, sent a letter to Kerala AICC in-charge Deepa Das Munshi. In it, he insisted that MM Hassan be nominated as acting Kerala Congress chief “until the conclusion of Lok Saha elections” due to KPCC president K Sudhakaran’s active involvement in them. Now, this is routine procedure and has been exercised in the past. Except this time, it was formalised through an AICC communiqué.
Sudhakaran sought re-election from Kannur only after being persuaded by the party high command. He had earlier stressed that he wouldn’t seek re-election as MP from Kannur. He reckoned it would be tough to do “justice to both roles” –parliamentarian and state party chief. On 4 May, as the Kannur strongman came to the PCC headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram for an election review meeting, he assumed he would be handed back the saddle – only to be told by Venugopal that he would have to wait longer.
According to leaders close to Sudhakaran who spoke to me on condition of anonymity, he had originally planned to resume his role as state chief on 29 April itself. But Venugopal urged him to wait until the 4 May review meeting. Extraordinary that he had to wait for another AICC communication to resume his duties, especially considering that Venugopal would be the one issuing it.
Meanwhile, Hassan, who is also the United Democratic Front (UDF) convener, was in no mood to hand over the charge. According to him, the wording in the 21 March AICC directive implied that he would continue his duties till 4 June, the date of the declaration of Lok Sabha election results.
Hassan could adopt this position because he had the backing of a section of state Congress leaders. This, of course, fuelled speculations that Sudhakaran was being eased out of the job.
A slighted Sudhakaran wasn’t going to relent either. He sent signals to the high command that, if he wasn’t reinstated pronto, he would be forced to issue damaging statements. But after receiving adequate reassurance, Sudhakaran promptly resumed his duties on 7 May, where Hassan was conspicuous by his absence.
The matter does not end here, though. This is only the beginning of a showdown within Kerala Congress ranks, expected to properly unfold after the declaration of election results.
K Sudhakaran’s long wait
When the Left Democratic Front led by Pinarayi Vijayan won an unprecedented second term in the 2021 Kerala assembly election, the state Congress was confronted with a huge crisis. Former KPCC chief Mullappally Ramachandran offered to resign, prompting a huge debate about his successor.
Shortly thereafter, hoardings and posters saying “Sudhakarane Konduvaroo, Congressine Rakshikoo (Bring on Sudhakaran, Save the Congress)” appeared in various parts of Kerala—the alleged handiwork of the Kannur strongman’s cronies. Sudhakaran had been vying for the role since 2014 and had made concerted attempts to secure the post in 2017 when VM Sudheeran put in his papers. However, Ramachandran, who was the chairman of the Congress Central Election Authority that oversaw Rahul Gandhi’s election as AICC president, ultimately got the job due to seniority and other factors.
But Sudhakaran didn’t have to try too hard in 2021. He emerged as the obvious choice for the role, pipping (the late) PT Thomas to it. It helped that Sudhakaran was seen as the ideal match for Pinarayi Vijayan. The duo, after all, went back a long way, involved in Kannur politics from their student days in Thalassery’s Brennan College in the 1960s. He was also seen as an ideal foil to the new Leader of the Opposition, VD Satheesan.
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How Sudhakaran fared
After generating much enthusiasm initially – which reinvigorated demoralised cadres – Sudhakaran seemed to fade away, failing to overhaul the Congress. This was a huge let-down as he had promised to ring in changes such as putting an end to factionalism. Instead, all he could accomplish in his first year was throwing out certain leaders for allegedly breaching party discipline.
Sudhakaran was also pulled down by his colleagues when he was not allowed to contest for the position of PCC chief after being nominated by the AICC. Sudhakaran’s short-tempered nature was cited to me as a reason for their hesitation in empowering him. Those Congress leaders would say today that they have been vindicated, as Sudhakaran ended up embarrassing the party on multiple occasions.
Where Sudhakaran fared abysmally, however, was in the reorganisation of the party down to the booth level. In the three years since he took charge, all he could accomplish was replacing fourteen District Congress Committee presidents and 280 block-level presidents. Even the 900-odd mandalam presidents under them couldn’t be finalised due to differences among factions.
This meant that the Congress went into the 2024 Lok Sabha election with no organisation at the mandalam and booth levels in many places. No wonder then that candidates such as K Muraleedharan spoke about the dysfunctional party structure in their constituencies.
Sudhakaran’s followers would argue that the Congress won two by-elections under his leadership – in Thrikkakkara and Puthuppally. Except these seats were originally held by the Congress.
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How Satheesan and Sudhakaran fell out
Sudhakaran also courted controversies along the way, even riling up key allies such as the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Church-backed Kerala Congress. But he was also restricted on account of his alleged illnesses, which began acting up in the second year of his tenure. It was mostly left to Satheesan to do damage control.
It was in the aftermath of the euphoria generated by the Congress’ thumping victory in the 2023 Puthuppally by-poll that the cadres were caught unawares. A video of Sudhakaran and Satheesan fighting over a microphone leaked. The blame was laid squarely on Satheesan’s shoulders, as he seemed to breach the party protocol by trying to snatch the mike from Sudhakaran.
However, there was another incident when CM Vijayan’s Nava Kerala Sadas was underway in Alappuzha earlier this year. In a hot-mic moment, Sudhakaran was caught using an abusive term for Satheesan.
By all accounts, Sudhakaran is on his way out as KPCC chief, especially since the Congress cannot take any risk in the run-up to the 2026 assembly election. There are also the crucial local body polls in 2025, which will set the tone for the assembly polls later. A veteran Congress leader told me that it would be “suicidal” for the party to continue with Sudhakaran going forward.
Sudhakaran’s late nomination in Kannur was likely an afterthought; it would be easier, after all, to let him go if he retained the seat. Moreover, his earlier statement about balancing “both positions” could be used against him.
While Sudhakaran sure fancies being parliamentarian and KPCC chief, he knows his days are numbered. No wonder he quickly snatched back the position.
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Sudhakaran and BJP
Congress would be in more trouble if Sudhakaran lost the election—and his KPCC post. That would set off tongues wagging that he could very well leave the Congress for the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Two reasons that explain this. The first is his ability to draw BJP votes in his support in Kannur. Before the truce between the RSS and the Communist Party of India-Marxist under the aegis of spiritual leader Sri M in 2016, the BJP shuddered at the thought of having a Marxist MP in Kannur. Sudhakaran has, in the past, testified to having accorded protection to Shakhas from Marxists. And despite the RSS having a wide network of Shakhas in the district, the BJP continues to fare badly in elections here.
The second reason is more complex: And that has to do with Sudhakaran’s propensity to deliver counters. Sudhakaran’s press conferences are funny and engaging. He can humour reporters with witty and at times, reckless retorts. So, if you were to ask him whether he could join the BJP, Sudhakaran would characteristically respond with – I would if I want to. He did exactly that once, saying “he would join the BJP if he felt like it”, and the Marxists have used the statement against him ever since.
Sudhakaran has to bear that cross all his life. But the smart alec that he is, he recognises the necessity of securing support from RSS voters, apart from Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League, to win from Kannur.
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Sudhakaran’s replacement
It is being rumoured that Sudhakaran’s eventual replacement could be a young face since both Satheesan and Venugopal – known to harbour chief ministerial ambitions – wouldn’t want a heavyweight occupying the position. Another factor will be balancing religious and community equations.
For instance, the last three KPCC chiefs – VM Sudheeran, Mullappally Ramachandran and Sudhakaran – are Ezhavas. This experiment seems to be not paying off as Ezhava votes aren’t coming to the Congress at all.
The party is eager to hold on to its Christian vote bank to come back to power in 2026. So a Syrian Christian leader is most likely to get the nod, especially with Satheesan, Venugopal, Chennithala and Tharoor all being Nairs.
For now, Sudhakaran is firmly back in the saddle. And with the Congress-led UDF tipped to win big from Kerala, he might claim that he delivered the victory for his party.
Nevertheless, the Congress knows that it cannot afford to lose 2026, and to that end, it will have no option but to go for an overhaul after 4 June. Sudhakaran, of course, knows this too.
The author is a Kerala-based journalist and columnist. He tweets @AnandKochukudy. Views are personal.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)