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

CPI(M) veteran G. Sudhakaran hints at party break after 63 years, citing ridicule and isolation from leadership in Facebook post.

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. 

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).