Will 'Sunny' days return to the Congress party in Kerala?

The 72-year-old Joseph's name came as a shock to many as all along in the past nearly four decades of the party, posts and positions was always shared between the factions led by tall leaders of the party.

From the 70's till the turn of the century, there were only two factions -- one which was led by the legendary four-time Chief Minister K. Karunakaran and the other led by three-time Chief Minister A.K.Antony.

With the weakening of Karunakaran's sway over the party, there emerged a third faction which was led by Ramesh Chennithala and others and then came a fourth group that was headed by outgoing KPCC President and Kannur Lok Sabha member K. Sudhakaran and Joseph was his closest ally, starting from then.

But with the turn of the century, it was the emergence of Oommen Chandy and the remaining three groups came under the fold of Chennithala and till 2021 when Chandy made way for Pinarayi Vijayan, his reign ended after he developed health issues.

With the decimation of the Congress party when Vijayan created history by becoming the first to retain office with a stunning victory in the 2021 Assembly polls, the Congress party was in disarray.

With this the Congress High Command took over and breaking conventions brought in Sudhakaran as the new state party President and V.D. Satheesan as the Leader of the Opposition, even when Chennithala had more support.

By then Chandy became weak and following his passing away in 2023, the factional feuds became history and except at times when the ego filled top leaders were seen washing dirty linen in public, Sudhakaran also had trouble with his health and it was after numerous discussions, the party high command toeing the line of Sudhakaran, who was angry that he is being moved out put his foot down and floated the name of his long time associate Joseph, which was agreed upon and hence the transition was smooth.

Making it amply clear on Monday was Chennithala, while welcoming Joseph at a crowded auditorium after the baton was changed, said, "Sunny (Joseph) doesn't belong to any faction in the party," and expressed hope that under Sunny Joseph, sunny days will return to the Congress party.

After Congress leader after leader welcomed Joseph, in his speech he said that he wishes to assure the rank and file of the party and all the leaders that he will do justice to his elevation and his primary aim is strengthen the party at the grassroots so as to create the platform to see that the Congress emerges victorious at the local body elections later this year and the grand finale, the 2026 Assembly polls.

Incidentally, when the present State CPI-M Secretary M.V. Govindan was the Kannur district CPI-M Secretary, Joseph was the Kannur district president and now two people from the same town are at the helm of affairs of the two different parties which matter in Kerala and people can witness an interesting battle of words between the two and more importantly will 'sunny' days return to the party headed by Sunny Joseph.