Kerala veteran CPI(M) leader G. Sudhakaran to contest as Independent candidate from Ambalappuzha in Assembly polls

Signalling his exit from the party in which he has served for over 63 years, Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] veteran and former Minister G. Sudhakaran announced on Thursday (March 12, 2026) that he will be contesting as an Independent candidate from the Ambalapuzha constituency in the forthcoming Kerala Assembly elections.

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Sudhakaran, however, said he has “no plans of abandoning the Communist party’s ideals, to which he remains steadfast to”, or to join any other party or front.

Mr. Sudhakaran said he “will not speak ill of the communist party, nor do character assassination of anyone.” He would not have any wall graffiti for the campaign, although he would not oppose it if someone else does it.

To a question as to whether he would accept the support of any other front, Mr. Sudhakaran said he would respond to such questions when support is offered. “I would not speak against the LDF government,” he said.

Mr. Sudhakaran reiterated his earlier statement that he had not applied for membership scrutiny (an annual intra-party exercise) because he felt that the party’s State and district (Alappuzha) leadership had “spurned and ridiculed him”. He said that he will “hit back with full force, but with civility, to any attempts to character assassinate him.”

He cited “the feeling of being insulted” due to such online attacks as one of the reasons behind his decisions to contest.

“People who have grown up without studying or understanding the party’s ideals shower abuses at me and make AI clips to insult me. I will not approve of such behaviour. I will continue to voice the party’s ideals. Some people in responsible positions claim that I shouldn’t be demanding more since I got the Minister post for two terms. That is an un-Marxian opinion. Communist leaders such as Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro have all remained in their positions till the end of their lives. No one asked them these questions. The only question that matters is what the person has done using that post,” he said.

No talks with other parties held

He refuted speculations that he had held talks with leaders from other parties over the past few days.

“Till this moment, I have not held discussions with any leader from the Opposition party or told any mediaperson that I am planning to contest as part of any front. There have also been false claims that CPI(M) party leaders have paid a visit to mollify me. No situation exists for them to carry out such a mission. CPI(M) State committee member C.S. Sujatha and Alappuzha district secretariat member G. Harishankar, who visited, are my relatives. (CPI(M) general secretary) M.A. Baby also spoke to me,” said Mr. Sudhakaran.

He said he remained “opposed to all kinds of communalism”, including majority and minority communalism, both of which are “dangerous.”

While speaking on the many projects implemented under his tenure as a Minister, he said that not even the party’s mouthpiece Deshabhimani now mentions the fact that the Perumbalam bridge, which was completed recently with much fanfare, was initiated under his tenure as the PWD Minister.

He called for “introspection within the party” regarding the eroding voter base in Alappuzha district in the recent local body elections, owing to “questionable decisions on candidature” at various constituencies.

Slams Elamaram Kareem

Mr. Sudhakaran also hit out Elamaram Kareem, general secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), for contesting in the Lok Sabha elections immediately after the end of his term as a Rajya Sabha MP and for attempts to portray himself as “a secular Muslim” during the campaign.