After ruffling many feathers with his pro-RSS comments, veteran leader K.Sudhakaran has expressed his willingness to step down as chairman of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
In a letter to former party chairman Rahul Gandhi, the senior leader offered to step down due to lack of support from opposition leader VDSatheesan. Another reason he allegedly stated in the letter is his poor health.
Sudhakaran, the strongman of Kannur and the arch-rival of the CPI-M headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, is known for his razor-sharp tongue. In recent days, he has come under severe pressure from his own party, especially the faction led by Satheesan.
On the occasion of Children’s Day on Monday, Sudhakaran said Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had negotiated a truce with “communal fascists” for the sake of democracy by agreeing to bring Jan Sangh founder and RSS leader Shyama Prasad Mukherjee into the cabinet.
He also said on Nov. 9 that congressional aides had protected the RSS offices during its heyday in his hometown of Kannur, when it came under duress from leftist forces.
Realizing it might cause trouble, he corrected and said it was a slip of the tongue, but by then a trail of emails from his fellow party members had reached the AICC office in Delhi.
Sources close to Sudhakaran said that it has been two days since he wrote to Gandhi and what is baffling is when the party has a full-fledged elected president, what is the need for Sudhakaran to write to Gandhi.
The main reason why Sudhakaran has written to Gandhi is that allies of the Congress party, including the Indian Union Muslim League, have expressed their anger at his utterances and loose tongue.
Incidentally, in Kerala the top leadership has never moved in unison as seen when it started with Karunakaran battling Antony, Oommen Chandy vs Ramesh Chennithala and now with Sudhakaran and Satheesan battling bats against each other.
Only time will reveal the reason why Sudhakaran expressed willingness to Gandhi and not to newly elected National President Malikarjuna Kharge.
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