Sunny Joseph is new Congress president in Kerala, Adoor Prakash UDF convenor

Thiruvananthapuram: In a shake-up in the Congress leadership in Kerala, Sunny Joseph MLA has been appointed as Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president replacing K Sudhakaran MP.

Sudhakaran as well as former Bihar Congress president and Rajya Sabha member Akhilesh Prasad Singh have been made permanent invitees to the Congress Working Committee.

Adoor Prakash MP is made the convenor of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), while P C Vishnunath MLA, A P Anilkumar MLA and Shafi Prambil MP have been made KPCC working presidents by replacing Kodikunnil Suresh MP, former MP T N Prathapan and T Siddique.

Maintaining communal balances seems to be the key purpose of the shake-up as leaders from all sections are given due representation. While the appointment of Sunny Joseph and Adoor Prakash ensure representation of Christian and Hindu-Ezhava communities, the appointment of young leaders like Shafi Parambil MP and P C Vishnunath MLA as working presidents ensures youth representation in the leadership.

Seventy-two year old Sunny Joseph hails from Idukki district. He has been representing the Peravoor assembly constituency in Kannur district since 2011 and won three elections in a row.

Adoor Prakash, who is replacing M M Hassan as UDF convenor, was a three time minister in Kerala. He was elected to the Kerala Assembly five times from Konni in Pathanamthitta and was elected to the Lok Saba from Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram twice.

Congress had suffered a fall in votes in Christian strongholds in the state in the previous elections. The lack of a prominent Christian leader in the party state leadership after the death of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was considered as a reason. There were also unconfirmed reports that some church heads had conveyed their displeasure to the Congress in this regard.

Frictions between Sudhakaran and opposition leader V D Satheesan were also learnt to be a reason for removing Sudhakaran. AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala Deepa Dasmunshi was also learnt to have given a report to the AICC leadership for removing Sudhakaran. Election strategist Sunil Kanugolu was also learnt to have suggested a shake-up ahead of the 2026 assembly polls.

The AICC was learnt to have considered many Christian leaders and Sunny Joseph and Anto Antony MP were the most preferred choices. There were strong speculations that Anto Antony will be made the Kerala PCC president as he has more personal connections with the Christian communities. But many Congress leaders were learnt to have preferred Sunny Joseph over Anto Antony.