KOZHIKODE: Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, IUML high-powered committee member and Malappuram district president, is likely to be the next state president of the party. It is the practice in the IUML to elevate the Malappuram president to the post of state president.
Panakkad Hyder Ali Shihab Thangal was the Malappuram president for 18 years. The 55-year-old Sadiq Ali Thangal has been holding the reins of the party ever since Hyder Ali Thangal opted out from public functions owing to ill-health. He has been chairing the meetings of the party and common community platforms.
A former state president of the Muslim Youth League (MYL), Sadiq Ali Thangal also has good connections with the leaders of the Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Ulema. Thangal is also known for his opposition to the CPM, and had recently remarked that Communism is the forbidden fruit for believers.
Sadiq Ali Thangal's article on Hagia Sophia in the Malayalam daily, Chandrika, had ruffled many feathers, forcing the IUML into firefighting mode to pacify the Christian community.