Kannur: Congress strongman and Kannur MP K Sudhakaran has once again aired his grievances against the party leadership, saying he was deeply hurt by his "unjustified" removal as Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president. In an apparent swipe at the current leadership, he said the government needs people who have the courage to point out its mistakes, not sycophants.

In a video message posted on Facebook and later deleted, Sudhakaran said a group within the Congress had worked to remove him from the post without justification. He recalled taking charge of a party that had been battered by setbacks and claimed credit for leading it back to electoral success.

“With a heavy heart, I ask: when I took charge of the Congress as KPCC president, at a time when the organisation had been shattered and brought to its knees, and tried to rebuild it, what did I get in return?” said Sudhakaran, a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC).

The outburst comes amid fresh signs of estrangement between Sudhakaran and the Congress state leadership, as well as the V D Satheesan-led government.

Earlier, UDF convenor Adoor Prakash had also publicly criticised the Chief Minister for taking key decisions without consulting the alliance leadership, saying he learnt of government decisions through the media. He had submitted a complaint to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge over the lack of coordination and consultation.

Like Prakash, Sudhakaran had lobbied hard for an Assembly ticket ahead of the 2026 election, triggering a prolonged standoff in Delhi. The party eventually denied him the ticket, after which he returned to Kerala publicly asserting the supremacy of the party over individual interests.

A year before in May 2025, the Congress high command replaced Sudhakaran as KPCC president with Peravoor MLA Sunny Joseph, who is now the Electricity Minister. Joseph was then seen as a close associate of Sudhakaran, but their relationship has since cooled.

Sudhakaran’s video message suggested that he continued to feel sidelined by the party leadership. Referring to his removal as KPCC president, he said such actions “devalue the sacrifices of those who shed blood for the party and stood by it during difficult times and would do no good to the Congress movement".

Arguing that the responsibility to question a government should not rest with the Opposition alone, Sudhakaran said members of the ruling front must also have the courage to challenge wrongdoing, irrespective of which government is in power. “The government needs not sycophants, but genuine fighters with the courage to point out its mistakes,” he said, adding that the Congress should not silence criticism or justify wrongdoing in the name of party interests. A political movement, he said, grows stronger when it accepts criticism and corrects its mistakes.

Sudhakaran said that some party leaders might disagree with his views. "But I have the right to express my views openly," he said.

Sudhakaran was unavailable for a comment. Kannur District Congress Committee president Martin George said he did not know why Sudhakaran had posted the video. “He might have felt it was not the right thing to do, which could be why he deleted it,” George said.