Blow to CPI(M) ahead of Kerala Assembly polls as former minister G Sudhakaran quits party, plans Independent run

Announcing his decision, Sudhakaran told the media in Alappuzha he had quit the CPI(M). “I will contest as an Independent candidate in Ambalappuzha. At the same time, I have not abandoned the Communist ideology and politics. For the CPI(M), politics is the only weapon. I do not have the support of any party so far. I will not join any other party or will seek the support of other parties. I will remain a Communist.  I am not going to surrender. If anyone attacks me personally, I will hit back. The party will perish if the party attacks me personally,” he said.

“My contest will be against the criminalisation of politics. It will be a major issue that I will raise during campaigning,’’ he said.

Last week, Sudhakaran said in a Facebook post that he would not renew his party membership. Since then, the CPI(M) reached out to Sudhakar to pacify him, but he did not budge from his stand.

A member of the party since 1967, Sudhakaran was the first state president and founding member of the SFI, the students’ wing of the CPI(M). In 1977, his brother Bhuvaneswaran was killed during campus violence at the NSS College in Pandalam amid conflict between the Left and the Congress’s student union KSU. While serving as a minister in the Pinarayi Vijayan government from 2016 to 2021 and under the V S Achuthanandan government from 2006 to 2011, Sudhakaran was known for his fight against corruption and has the image of an upright, honest, and outspoken leader.

After being a member of the CPI(M) state committee for 43 years, Sudhakaran was removed from the body in 2022 and demoted to a branch committee member in Alappuzha. In the 2021 Assembly elections, the CPI(M) did not give him a ticket, citing the decision to ground all sitting legislators who had won two consecutive terms.

In November 2021, the CPI(M) publicly censured him for allegedly failing to work for the success of the party’s Ambalapuzha candidate H Salam. Sudhakaran, according to some district leaders, continued to sulk after being denied the ticket and showed a “lackadaisical approach” during the elections. While Salam won the seat, the party decided to look into Sudhakaran’s alleged lapses during the polls and appointed a commission to probe the issue.

After being removed from the state committee in 2022 upon turning 75 years old, Sudhakaran remained a branch committee member in the party’s Alappuzha district committee. He maintained a low profile since then, complaining in party circles about how the leadership had neglected him. Last year, the Kerala Police registered a criminal case against Sudhakaran after he claimed that he had tampered with postal votes in the Lok Sabha elections of 1989.

Expected impact

Given his image as an anti-corruption crusader, if Sudhakaran chooses to attack his former party in the coming days, it could land it in a spot of bother and fuel the political debate in the state in the run-up to elections. However, state minister Saji Cherian, who is also from Alappuzha, told the media that Sudhakaran should explain why he had quit the party. “If he wants to contest again, let him do. His exit will not affect the party.”

The fallout of the Sudhakaran episode will depend on the extent of his attack on his former party as he campaigns on the issue of criminalisation of politics. The CPI(M), according to insiders, is expected to project the former minister as a power-hungry and disgruntled leader who quit the party to further his electoral ambitions, even though he was given enough opportunities and appointed minister for two terms. The impact of his exit will depend on how he connects with ordinary CPI(M) workers and if his message that the party had deviated ideologically connects with them. For Sudhakaran, the challenge will be to prove that his delayed revolt is not over denial of seat or neglect by the leadership.