The Congress High Command in a late evening development on Thursday shunted out K Sudhakaran, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief and appointed Sunny Joseph, a devoted Christian leader as the new party boss in Kerala.
Sunny Joseph has to introduce himself to the party cadre in the State because he is unheard of anywhere outside Malabar (the northern districts of Kannur and Kozhikode).
The decision to oust Sudhakaran came after the party’s central leaders (Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge) held an hour long meeting with the former last week.
“It was a routine meeting and we discussed about the upcoming elections to the local body later this year and the assembly elections scheduled for April 2026. There was no discussion on leadership change,” sudhakaran had told reporters after coming back from New Delhi.
He further stated that if the High Command so desires, he would instantly submit his letter of resignation and give way to whoever is appointed in his place.
The Congress workers across the State were in for a shock as TV news channels blared out that Sudhakaran has been ousted.
Sudhakaran, a firebrand leader of the party, was instrumental in the Congress-led UDF sweeping 19 out of the 20 Lok Sabha seats from Kerala.
He is the one who is credited with the rejuvenation of the Congress in Kerala and had declared that his only mission as KPCC president was to decimate the CPI(M) and Pinarayi Vijayan in the 2026 assembly polls.
“I will retire from politics the day we defeat the CPI(M) and remove Pinarayi Vijayan from the chief minister’s office,” he had declared during a public meeting. Sudhakaran (76), has been holding the party chief’s post since June 2021.
He was appointed the party boss in 2021 following the debacle of the UDF in the 2021 assembly election and since then the Congress saw a change in fortunes.
The party won two by-polls held to the assembky as well as the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan had declared recently that there was no need for any change in the party leadership. “Sudhakaran is doing a good job and he should be given the responsibility to lead the party till the assembly elections are over,” said Muraleedharan.
The ouster of Sudhakaran is seen as the party’s genuflection in front of the Catholic Church which has been demanding a community member be appointed as KPCC chief.
Though the mouthpiece of the Church had refuted the charge in ots editorial on Wednesday it is for public consumption, said P Sujathan, political critic who has more tha four decades of friendship with A K Antony and late Oommen Chandi.
He also attributed the change to the pressure by leaders like V D Satheeshan (Leader of Opposition), Ramesh Chennithala, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and K C Venugopal, all of them targeting the chief minister’s gaddi in the eventuality of the UDF winning the 2026 assembly polls.
“Now that Sunny Joseph has been appointed as party chief, the High Command’s choice is limited to that of these leaders, all of them belonging to the Nair community,” said Sujathan.
He further stated that Joseph’s appointment is sur to help the CPI(M) to win most of the seats from Malabar region. “The CPI(M) has started celebration following the removal of Sudhakaran,” he said.
Sudhakaran remained incommunicado following the AICC announcement about his removal. But the next few days will see Sudhakaran making an important announcement. “The politically powerful Eezhava and Theeya communities in Kerala are likely to dampen the chances of Congress in the 2026 polls as Sunny Joseph is neither inspiring nor dynamic,” said Sujathan.
Sudhakaran had said recently that he would not hesitate to join hands with the BJP in his mission to vanquish the CPI(M). It may be noted that he joined the Congress from Janata Party in 1982.