Analysis | To push Sudhakaran out or not? On bypoll high, Cong forces itself into confusion

Kochi: High on the confidence infused by the performance in the Lok Sabha elections and the ensuing bypolls, the Congress in Kerala seems to be caught in a quandary.

The party state unit appears to have forced upon itself confusion – should there be a leadership change or not? For the past several days, media reports have been speculating over who should replace K Sudhakaran as the president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), though the party is yet to initiate formal discussions over organisational restructuring.

Some reports said there is a call from within the party that a young leader should be made the state chief, while others suggested a replacement will be made considering community equations. Both Sudhakaran and Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan, brought to the helm of the party following the shock defeat in the 2021 assembly polls, belong to the Hindu community.

A common cause being pushed by those who want Sudhakaran out – though none of them has come on record yet – is that he has health constraints that make him unfit to lead the party during the run-up to the local body and assembly elections due in just a year and a half.

The names projected in media reports as potential replacements for Sudhakaran are many, including his Lok Sabha colleagues Kodikkunnil Suresh, Benny Behanan, Anto Antony and Adoor Prakash, as well as MLAs Roji M John, Mathew Kuzhalnadan and Sunny Joseph.

Three of them Onmanorama spoke to said there has been no formal discussion on the matter yet. Party leaders Onmanorama spoke to said the organisational restructuring could take place in two ways: either by retaining Sudhakaran as the PCC chief or by replacing him. The national leadership has to decide on this.

Sudhakaran, known for his aggressive and vocal stand against the CPM in the state, was brought to the helm of the party as a morale booster at a time when the party machinery’s confidence was at its lowest in recent history.

There was a clamour on social media from Congress supporters to bring Sudhakaran to the top. Satheesan, meanwhile, was picked to lead the parliamentary party instead of senior leader Ramesh Chennithala, considering his track record as a performer on the floor.

Though the duo infused a renewed vigour to the party body both inside and outside the assembly, the strained relationship between the two came out in the open multiple times, putting the party in embarrassment.

Under the new leadership, the factional equations in Congress’ Kerala unit started vanishing. Oommen Chandy’s untimely death weakened his once-all-powerful A group, while the I group led by Ramesh Chennithala lost ground, with the sidelined leader losing clout among the party ranks.

Sudhakaran assumed office with big plans to rejuvenate the party machinery. He wanted the party to be converted into a ‘semi cadre’ system with dedicated Congress unit committees at the grassroot level. However, due to the Congress' loose organisational habits, the project did not gain momentum.

Electoral performance under the new leadership has been in favour of both the PCC chief and the opposition leader. The Congress-led UDF won 18 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 elections while it retained all of its seats in the assembly bypolls – Thrikkakara, Puthuppally and Palakkad. In the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll, Priyanka Gandhi could improve Rahul Gandhi’s winning margin.

The Congress lost in the Chelakkara assembly bypoll, though the sitting CPM’s winning margin came down considerably. In all the bypolls, anti-incumbency sentiments against the Left government were evident, while the sympathy factor also played a crucial role in Thrikkakara and Puthuppally. Notably, the party’s campus wing -- Kerala Students Union -- improved its performance significantly in college elections in recent years.

Congress Working Committee member Shashi Tharoor on Sunday cited the figures defending Sudhakaran’s right to continue in the post. He said he was unaware of any discussion over leadership change but that there was no need to change the PCC president. Not everyone agrees though.

“The UDF won 19 out of 20 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when Mullappally Ramachandran was PCC president. But we know what happened in the assembly polls two years later. Sudhakaran is an able leader, and there is no doubt about it. But he cannot run around the state and gear up the party ahead of the local body and assembly polls,” a Congress MLA told Onmanorama.

Sudhakaran’s supporters, however, find the health concerns an alibi for those who want him out. “Sudhakaran and Satheesan were brought to the leadership as a package. It is totally unfair to say only Sudhakaran should be replaced at this stage. He may not be a typical Congress politician who is all-pleasing and sweet-talking.

“That is because his political career was shaped in Kannur, where he had to fight the CPM in a way no other Congress leader could imagine. He is still an idol for the ordinary Congress supporters in Kerala,” a young Congress leader told Onmanorama.

Sudhakaran’s stance, it is learnt, that the party reorganisation should be conducted by filling in the vacant posts including treasurer and a working president.