Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leader K. Sudhakaran is trying to re-establish himself in the party through his social media initiative, ‘K. S. Brigade.’ He claims that the aim of the ‘brigade,’ launched three years ago, is to support the local people through his social media community. But party leaders feel that it is a comeback bid after he was trounced in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Kannur and the 2016 Assembly elections from Uduma. Since then, he has not been in the limelight as he was not given any party post. Mr Sudhakaran had lost the LS election due to the fight with his arch rival P. Ramakrishnan of the ‘A’ group.
Similarly, a top ‘I’ group leader sent Mr Sudhakaran to Uduma to wrest the seat from the CPM after almost four decades, but he was defeated by nearly 4,000 votes. The ‘I’ group leader had even asked Mr Sudhakaran to contest from Nemom though he belongs to Kannur. Mr Sudhakaran, who is currently undergoing ayurvedic treatment at Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad, told DC that ‘K. S. Brigade’ was formed by his fans spread over 19 countries. “The movement was started by my fans who love me and it has over 2,000 members. The fans earmark a portion of their salary to charity under the banner of K. S. Brigade. They provide medical facilities and funds to children’s education among the poor,” he said.
When the ‘K. S. Brigade’ was launched in Kannur recently with much fanfare, former chief minister Oommen Chandy and Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala had attended it and lauded the efforts of Mr Sudhakaran. But KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran was not present. It may be recalled that when Mr Chennithala merged his group with the unified ‘I’ group, the original ‘I’ group leaders like Mr Sudhakaran, UDF convener P. P. Thankachan and former MLA E. M. Augusthy were sidelined. “Former MLA Joseph Vazhakkan and K. C. Venugopal MP are calling the shots now, which has upset Sudhakaran,” said a Congress leader.
