Kerala CPI(M) veteran G. Sudhakaran signals break with party after 63 years

Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] veteran and former Kerala Minister G. Sudhakaran on Wednesday (March 4, 2026) indicated a break with the party he served for 63 years as a member. 

In a Facebook post, Mr. Sudhakaran said he had not applied for membership scrutiny (an annual intra-party exercise) because he felt that the party’s State and district (Alappuzha) leadership had “spurned and ridiculed him”.

Mr. Sudhakaran’s scathing attack on the party comes on a day when the CPI(M) State Secretariat is convening in Thiruvananthapuram to vet the list of prospective party candidates for the 2026 Assembly elections, submitted by the respective district secretariats. 

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby and CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan are chairing the meeting at the party’s State Headquarters at the AKG Centre in Thiruvananthapuram. Mr. Govindan’s earlier statement that the CPI(M) would find suitable accommodation for veterans had sparked speculation about Mr. Sudhakaran’s candidature. 

Complaints against party leadership

Mr. Sudhakaran, widely perceived as an outspoken objector with a history of dissent in the CPI(M), raised a litany of complaints against the leadership. He alleged that Mr. Govindan had “dismissively mocked him” at a press conference, drawing derisive laughter from journalists. 

He said the CPI(M)’s district leadership had “walked the extra mile to wilfully isolate him” by not inviting him to public functions, including the ‘Protect Democracy’ rally marking the 50th anniversary of the Emergency. (Mr. Sudhakaran was jailed during the Emergency). 

Mr. Sudhakaran, who stepped down from the CPI(M) State committee in 2022 after reaching the age limit of 75, is working at the party’s branch level in Alappuzha.

“I had served as a State committee member for 43 years. The district secretary never enquired how I fared in the branch committee. A local committee member lampooned my father on social media”, he said. 

Mr. Sudhakaran said party leadership “cared little about the injustice inflicted” on him. “Nobody corrected or rectified the unfairness”, he said. “I will remain ideologically committed to the masses”, he said. 

Mr. Sudhakaran had raised eyebrows by largely staying away from the LDF’s Lok Sabha election campaign in 2024. He also hit headlines by singling out Minister for Culture Saji Cherian for criticism and accused the CPI(M)’s Alappuzha-centric social media handles of spreading the “false narrative” that he harboured “parliamentary ambitions.

Meanwhile, Mr. Baby told reporters that Mr. Sudhakaran’s Facebook post was “news” to him.

Other leaders refused to comment.