Kerala Assembly polls: KPCC cracks whip on premature candidate declarations by leaders

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, took action against party leaders over the issue of candidate selection for the State Assembly elections.

In a brief statement, KPCC president Sunny Joseph said public announcement of candidacy and premature statements regarding coalition seat sharing would invite disciplinary action.

Mr. Joseph’s ultimatum assumed political significance in the backdrop of former KPCC chief K. Sudhakaran “declaring” his candidacy from Kannur on Monday, allegedly putting himself before the All India Congress Committee (AICC), which is grappling with the vexed question of whether incumbent MPs will be allowed to contest the Assembly elections.

Mr. Sudhakaran had created a stir by insisting that he would contest from Kannur. “110 percent, I will contest the Assembly elections from Kannur. Let the Central Election Screening Commission’s decision come,” he had said.

Fears of factionalism

A Congress insider said the KPCC cannot afford to ignore early declarations of candidacy by bypassing the party’s screening process.

He said the KPCC feared that such blatant allegations risked opening a Pandora’s box of factionalism and one-upmanship, undermining efforts to present a united face in elections and potentially making the party vulnerable to external pressures, including caste and religious lobbyists.

‘Poster war’ in Thiruvananthapuram

KPCC sources said the intra-party ‘banner war’ over the Thiruvananthapuram Assembly seat had also upset the party leadership, forcing Mr Joseph to nip the “self-defeating organizational drift” in the bud.

Several posters have emerged in Thiruvananthapuram condemning Opposition Leader VD Satheesan’s claim to give the seat to Communist Marxist Party (CMP) general secretary CP John, purportedly to sideline Congress leader and former Health Minister VS Sivakumar. Both leaders have since denied any involvement in the matter.

Mr Joseph underlined that Congress candidate selection and coalition seat-sharing were KPCC’s “only protection”.

He said undermining the process through suo-motu statements on nominations or seat-sharing arrangements does not bode well for the party and “does not suit the leaders or the provincial units of the party”.

Still, Mr Joseph said leaders and party workers were “free to voice their suggestions” at party forums. “Leaders should not announce their candidacies past the High Command, which makes the final call,” he said.

Mr. Joseph also warned against “meetings outside the organizational framework of the KPCC” on matters related to candidate selection.