Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress high command has accepted the long-pending demand of the ‘KS Brigade’ by appointing K Sudhakaran as the president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
Though already hurt, the prominent factions within the State unit of the Congress has welcomed the AICC decision. However, the Congress’s road ahead in Kerala will be heavily dependent on the groups’ relationship with Sudhakaran.
The Oommen Chandy-Ramesh Chennithala axis has been having a final say in party matters in Kerala, after the age of K Karunakaran and A K Antony. Sudhakaran does not have the support of the Chandy-Chennithala axis.
Though Sudhakaran was part of the ‘I’ group, Chennithala has not taken a stand favourable to him. Both group leaders, Chandy and Chennithala, decided to refrain from naming anyone to the KPCC top post after their joint efforts to prevent the appointment of V D Satheesan as the Leader of the Opposition had failed.
The Congress will now be keen on Sudhakaran’s approach towards those who had not supported him while revamping the organization.
The appointment of Satheesan as the Leader of the Opposition gave Sudhakaran an edge over others in the race to the top KPCC post. The AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala, Tariq Anwar, discussed the appointment of KPCC president with leaders at various party levels, considering the stand adopted by Chandy and Chennithala.
Making a final call on the appointment became easy for AICC after Sudhakaran did not have an equal rival in the race. Interestingly, all three working presidents, named on Tuesday, belonged to the ‘A’ group, while the opposition leader and KPCC president are from the ‘I’ camp.
The appointment of the new KPCC president has brought two Kannur strongmen, Pinarayi Vijayan and Sudhakaran, face-to-face in Kerala politics. Vijayan is not strictly following his style during his second term as the chief minister.
It is yet to be seen whether Sudhakaran, expanding his political arena from Kannur to all over the State, will continue his style and language.
