On Wednesday, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K. Sudhakaran ended a week of speculation that his tenure hung in the balance and created riveting political theatre by reclaiming his office at the party’s State headquarters in Indira Bhavan with considerable fanfare.
Mr. Sudhakaran’s return to the KPCC headquarters was neither controversy-free nor muted. For one, KPCC acting president M.M. Hassan and Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan were conspicuous by their absence.
Mr. Sudhakaran later told reporters he had looked forward to the top leadership’s presence. “Mr. Hassan should have been present. Mr. Satheesan is a multifaceted and busy person,” he quipped.
He said he had not notified anybody of his arrival but observed rather sourly that the party could not dictate simple courtesies.
Mr. Sudhakaran’s loyalists seemed to offset the party leadership’s apparent lack of enthusiasm for the KPCC president’s comeback by giving him a rousing welcome.
Mr. Sudhakaran’s high-profile back-in-the-saddle act belied the rumour that the All India Congress Committee had linked his continuation in the top post to the party’s faring at the Lok Sabha polls in Kerala and wanted Mr. Hassan to hold the fort until mid-June.
The party also seemed under duress to maintain the political optics of backward class representation in the KPCC leadership. The Congress also seemed confronted by the awkward question of why AICC general secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal did not hand over charge despite contesting the Lok Sabha polls like Mr. Sudhakaran.
Mr. Sudhakaran’s announcement that he would review several of Mr. Hassan’s decisions, including the reinstatement of party leaders disciplined for derailing campaign work, signalled the KPCC might be in for a bumpy ride.
Moreover, Mr. Sudhakaran’s emphatic statement that he would lead the party into the 2026 Assembly elections unless the AICC decided otherwise seemed a veiled challenge to other hopefuls in the KPCC leadership.
Mr. Sudhakaran appeared girded up for the long innings. The air of despondency that enveloped him when he claimed he was at the fag end of his political career seemed a thing of the past.
Whether Mr. Sudhakaran’s assertiveness will open new fissures in the KPCC or beget factional realignments remains to be seen.
