THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: By coming to each other’s aid, senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan and state president K Sudhakaran have raised the eyebrows of party leaders. Power equations within the state party have been shifting with Sudhakaran crossing swords with Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan.
Following his recent humiliating defeat in Thrissur, several Congress leaders had spoken to a sulking Muraleedharan. But it was Sudhakaran who called on him at his residence in Kozhikode.
It should be recalled that Muraleedharan had sided with Sudhakaran a few weeks ago when there was uncertainty over reinstating him as KPCC president. Repaying the gratitude, Sudhakaran even went to the extent of saying that he is ready to step down as party chief in favour of Muraleedharan. This is unlikely to happen as the Congress state president and party legislative leader cannot be from the same community.
Another leader who has backed both Sudhakaran and Muraleedharan is CWC member Ramesh Chennithala. It’s interesting to note that all three were once part of the ‘I’ group.
“A new axis has emerged with Muraleedharan, Chennithala and Sudhakaran joining hands against Satheesan. The Satheesan camp has the backing of UDF convenor M M Hassan and young blood like Shafi Parambil, the Vadakara MP-elect, and Rahul Mamkootathil, Youth Congress state president. It needs to be seen who emerges stronger,” a senior leader told TNIE.
The rapport between Sudhakaran and Satheesan ran into rough weather after the former faced issues in returning to Indira Bhavan after his Lok Sabha election outing in Kannur. And following the vote, a rejuvenated Sudhakaran has decided to re-engage his rivals within the party.
With a massive victory margin of over 1.08 lakh votes in the CPM citadel, Sudhakaran feels that he has proved his mettle. Both he and Satheesan have been claiming that it was their individual work that helped the Congress win 14 seats in the state, at a time when the rank and file feels that the party is a divided house.