Kerala Congress Revamp: Sunny Joseph Named KPCC Chief To Woo Christians Ahead Of 2026 Assembly Polls

The slew of appointments in the Congress in Kerala is being seen as a move to revamp the state unit ahead of the crucial local body polls and Assembly elections next year. The decision to name Sunny Joseph as the new president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee replacing veteran leader K Sudhakaran has obviously been done with an eye on the Christian community.

Christians have traditionally voted for the Congress, but a section of the community has recently shifted allegiance towards the BJP. According to a survey, five per cent of the state’s Christian population voted for the BJP in the last election. Appointing Adoor Prakash as the party’s convener is being seen as social engineering and a bid to woo the Ezhava community.

In a deft balancing act, younger leaders PC Vishnunadh, AP Anil Kumar, and Shafi Parambil have been appointed as working presidents to ensure a mix of youth and experience. However, some analysts feel these changes will do little to help the Congress in Kerala, as factionalism and infighting have virtually destroyed its chances of making a comeback.

The state, which has never voted an incumbent government back to power, saw a major shift in 2021 when the CPM was re-elected for an unprecedented second term.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is now confident of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) achieving a hat trick of victories, and unless the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) gets its act together, that is a distinct possibility.

K Sudhakaran, a contemporary of Vijayan and a strongman from the CM’s bastion of Kannur, was determined to stay on as the state unit chief till the next election when he hoped to oust the Left from power, but he had to bow to the Congress high command’s wishes.

Now as a consolation he has been named a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC). There are several power centres in the state unit of the Congress, with at least four chief ministerial hopefuls: Ramesh Chennithala, Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly VD Satheesan, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, and Alapuzha MP KC Venugopal, who is known to be extremely close to Rahul Gandhi.

The new appointments in the state unit are said to have been masterminded by Venugopal. Whether the attempt at decentralisation by appointing three working presidents will bring clarity or lead to more confusion remains to be seen.

With less than a year left for the Assembly elections, the Congress has its task cut out. It has a golden opportunity to cash in on the anti-incumbency that is dogging the Left government, given the many allegations of corruption, increasing crime and alleged official high-handedness.

The man-animal conflict in the state’s hilly regions and the government’s failure to tackle it are also causes for voters’ disenchantment with the LDF. Hence, the appointment of Sunny Joseph, who hails from the high ranges, as state unit chief is significant.

The coming election is a do-or-die battle for the grand old party in Kerala. After a solid showing in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it hopes for an encore in the state polls too. For the party to remain relevant in Kerala, it has to perform well electorally. There are no two views on that.