JOIN USWill K Sudhakaran make Congress in Kerala more aggressive?
As 73-year-old K Sudhakaran takes charge as Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, the state is keen to see whether the firebrand leader will change his style of functioning or make the party more aggressive.
Known for his tit-for-tat approach and swaggering body language, Sudhakaran began his political career with the Kerala Students' Union and a stint in the Janata Party from 1978 to 1984. He climbed the political ladder by putting up a tough fight to CPM in its citadel Kannur district and also overcoming resistance from within the party.
With Sudhakaran at the helm of Congress affairs in Kerala, Kannur district has now emerged as the power centre of Kerala politics; Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is also from Kannur.
A two-time sitting MP of Kannur, former Kerala forest minister and three-time MLA, Sudhakaran's entry to parliamentary politics was eventful. In 1991, he lost to CPM's O Bharathan by a thin majority of 219 votes in Left stronghold Edakkad in Kannur. But Sudhakaran moved court, alleging bogus votes, and won the case to enter the Kerala Assembly. In the next three consecutive Assembly elections, he won from Kannur.
A post-graduate and LLB holder, Sudhakaran became Kannur District Congress Committee president in 1992 by overcoming stiff resistance from prominent groups within Congress.
Though Sudhakaran's tit-for-tat style has not gone down well with many Congress leaders, his confidantes say he became a popular leader in a Left citadel because of that approach. When his gunman was accused of killing a CPM worker at Kannur in 1993, Sudhakaran had stated that the gunman was appointed to protect him, not shoot crows. His fierce political speeches often triggered controversies -- the latest being that Pinarayi Vijayan, who hailed from a toddy tapper family, now preferred to travel by helicopter.