In Kerala, Congress puts up united face as Sudhakaran, Satheesan set off on yatra to take on CPM, BJP

The Congress party’s protest yatra in Kerala ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, which was launched Friday, is being led by state Congress president K Sudhakaran as well as the senior party leader and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan.

Their joint efforts for the yatra across Kerala has surprised many, as the differences in the state Congress have come to the fore repeatedly over the past several months.

At a press conference held after the Congress won a bypoll in Puthuppally in September last year – necessitated after the death of former CM Oommen Chandy – Sudhakaran and Satheesan had bickered openly.

They argued over who would kick off the press conference, with Sudhakaran saying: “I am the KPCC president. I will start the press conference. You can speak later.”.

Satheesan later refused a shawl offered by a party worker and directed questions from journalists to Sudhakaran. “The president has said everything,” Satheesan had said.

Sudhakaran has landed in several controversies over his alleged “pro-RSS statements”, which he was forced to brush aside after facing backlash from his party and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the party’s ally in the state.

In December last year, Sudhakarn came under fire for backing Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s decision to nominate RSS/ABVP- affiliated members to the senates of two universities. A year prior to this row, he had ruffled feathers when he claimed to have offered protection to the RSS shakhas in his home district of Kannur as they allegedly faced threats from the communists. He even said that India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was “magnanimous” enough to induct RSS leader Syama Prasad Mookerjee into his Cabinet, lauding Nehru’s