K Sudhakaran backs down after four-day standoff; relief for Congress as crisis ebbs

Kannur: After four days of brinkmanship that rattled the Congress, veteran leader K Sudhakaran on Thursday stepped back from the edge, declaring he would remain “subservient to the party” and would not contest without its permission -- ending speculation that he would enter the fray as an independent.

“I will continue in the party… Where else will I go? I was denied a ticket, not ousted,” Sudhakaran said, emerging after days of silence in Delhi. “I will not contest as an independent candidate. I will contest only with the permission of the party.”

The public statement made on his way to the airport before his Delhi flat brought palpable relief to a leadership that had spent the past four days firefighting a crisis triggered by one of its most combative faces in north Kerala.

The flashpoint came on Wednesday evening, when the Congress leadership, after a marathon meeting, settled on former Kannur mayor T O Mohanan as the candidate for the Kannur Assembly seat.

Word of the decision trickled out by Thursday morning, and so did discontent.

Sudhakaran, who had been in Delhi, reportedly reacted sharply. He began calling senior leaders, including Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, making it clear he felt sidelined, not just in candidature, but in consultation. He reportedly said he was not consulted before the party decided on Mohanan. According to reports, he ended the calls to the leader saying, “goodbye”.

His supporters back home released parallel lists of Sudhakaran's candidates across Kerala to spoil the Congress's chances.

That set off alarm bells.

Senior leaders, including A K Antony and Ramesh Chennithala, reached out. Antony, in a carefully worded remark later, said Sudhakaran “would not do anything that helps bring back the Pinarayi Vijayan government for the third time". Antony's words were reassuring and concerning at the same time.

Mood swings in Kannur
Back in Kannur, the uncertainty played out in real time outside the DCC office.

As news filtered in that T O Mohanan was the likely candidate, a small group of supporters gathered outside the DCC office in protest, their mood tense and watchful, waiting for confirmation. They took out a march, raising slogans in support of Sudhakaran, even as Mohanan told the media that any UDF candidate could win Kannur this time, given the prevailing political climate.

Then came the next wave of information -- that Sudhakaran might defy the party and contest on his own. The crowd swelled, voices rising with the stakes. Slogans grew sharper, the air thick with anticipation.

Soon after, unverified reports began circulating that the high command might make an exception to its decision not to field MPs -- at least for Sudhakaran. In a matter of minutes, the same space flipped the mood. Protest gave way to celebration. Firecrackers went off, and supporters cheered what they believed was a reversal.

They insisted the Congress could reclaim Kannur -- held for two consecutive terms by LDF’s Kadannappalli Ramachandran (81) — only if Sudhakaran was in the fray. The LDF had fielded Kadannappalli again in Kannur.

But the celebrations were premature. In Delhi, there was no rethink. The central leadership held firm on its position that MPs would not be fielded in the Assembly elections. Sudhakaran, despite being in the capital, did not engage with the media for four days, fuelling speculation that kept workers on edge.

At the same time, UDF convenor and Attingal MP Adoor Prakash is learnt to have reopened the question of candidature, indicating that if Sudhakaran was granted an exception, his own name should be considered for Konni in Pathanamthitta.

Pressure and pause
What made the situation volatile was the ripple effect. Sudhakaran’s supporters openly discussed fielding candidates in multiple constituencies if he was denied a ticket. The threat of escalation was real.

By Thursday, however, the tone shifted.

Emerging after days of silence, Sudhakaran, who is a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), dialled down the confrontation. “The party is much bigger. Who am I to challenge it?” he said. “I decide to remain subservient to the party.”

He also made it clear that his support base -- which he claimed extended across Kerala -- would remain within the party fold. “They are not for forming committees or creating new leaders, but for working in the party’s common interest,” he said.

A crisis contained
Sudhakaran’s climbdown draws the curtain on a brief but intense episode that exposed the Congress’s familiar fault lines, central decisions colliding with strong regional leaders.

Four days ago, he had arrived in Delhi, declaring he would contest and win Kannur. For the Congress, the immediate crisis has ebbed, but its image has taken a beating.