Kerala Assembly polls: KPCC tries to persuade K. Sudhakaran to step back from Kannur race; MP’s emotional post sparks debate

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has intensified efforts to persuade K. Sudhakaran, MP, to withdraw from the race for the Assembly seat from Kannur constituency, even as his emotional social media post defending his decision to contest has triggered political discussion within the party.

KPCC president Sunny Joseph met Mr. Sudhakaran in New Delhi recently and reportedly conveyed that the final decision on candidates would be taken by the party High Command. The meeting was part of the party leadership’s attempt to convince Mr. Sudhakaran to step back from the contest.

Posters in front of the DCC office in Kannur put up by supporters of K. Sudhakaran on Friday.
| Photo Credit:
S K Mohan

Meanwhile, Mr. Sudhakaran’s emotional message on his Facebook page has become a talking point in political circles. In the post, he said he had always stood in the forefront to protect Congress workers in Kannur, comparing his role to that of “a mother hen shielding her chicks from stones, knives and bombs.”

Mr. Sudhakaran said many leaders currently in Kannur had grown politically under his guidance. “There is no Kannur I do not know, and there is no Kannur that does not know me,” he wrote, asserting that he would always remain at the forefront “carrying the Congress tricolour” for the district.

Mr. Sudhakaran stated that Kannur was his “heart’s blood” and that the Congress in Kannur remained his identity. He also said he could not “remain a silent spectator if communist forces” attacked the Congress workers he had “protected through struggles.”

Recalling the violent political history of the district, Mr. Sudhakaran said described Kannur as “a land soaked in the sacrifice and struggle by Congress workers.”

Meanwhile, supporters have been visiting Mr. Sudhakaran at his residence to express solidarity and demand that he be fielded as the Congress candidate from the Kannur constituency.

Posters supporting Mr. Sudhakaran appeared in front of the District Congress Committee (DCC) office in Kannur. The posters, put up on the office premises and nearby buildings, urged the party to field “Kannur’s leader K. Sudhakaran“ in the constituency. Some posters also carried the message: “K. Sudhakaran is the emotion of Congress workers. Attempts to sideline him will have repercussions.”

Mr. Sudhakaran’s announcement of his readiness to contest had drawn a sharp response from the KPCC president and Kannur DCC president Martin George who cited that the final decision about the candidate will be taken by the All India Congress Committee.