Former CPI(M) Minister G. Sudhakaran has filed his papers as a 'people’s Independent' candidate in Ambalappuzha, breaking his long association with the party after feeling discriminated against regarding a term waiver for contesting Assembly polls.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has criticized CPI(M) defectors, including G. Sudhakaran and T.K. Govindan, accusing them of betraying their political legacy and weakening the party due to 'parliamentary ambitions'.

State secretary says it is superfluous to discuss Sudhakaran who has severed links with the party. He says the Ambalappuzha constituency will remain with the LDF since “the vote is for the party, not personalities.”

CPI(M) State committee member and former MP C.S. Sujatha and Alappuzha district secretariat member G. Harishankar call on Sudhakaran at his house. Sujatha, however, later downplays the visit, calling it “routine”

Kerala's Leader of the Opposition, V.D. Satheesan, has publicly praised G. Sudhakaran as a 'just administrator,' noting he was the only LDF Cabinet member between 2006 and 2011 to avoid corruption allegations.

Sudhakaran accuses the Minister of making ‘unwarranted remarks’. He rules out the possibility of a third Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in Kerala

Sudhakaran, however, says he has ‘no plans of abandoning the Communist party’s ideals, to which he remains steadfast to’, or to join any other party or front

Expressing strong disapproval of the CPI(M) leadership’s current stance, the MP describes the neglect and derogatory remarks directed at Sudhakaran over the past few years as extremely unfortunate

If the veteran communist leader’s grassroots connect gels with UDF’s electoral machinery, the contest in Ambalappuzha could be turned on its head.

Congress screening committee has decided not to field a party candidate in Ambalappuzha and to extend support to dissident CPI(M) leader G. Sudhakaran instead, according to sources

Congress leader describes ‘treatment’ meted out to Sudhakaran as a ‘grave injustice against a sincere communist’ who had served the party for decades

In a Facebook post, Sudhakaran says he has not applied for membership scrutiny (an annual intra-party exercise) because he feels the CPI(M)’s State and district (Alappuzha) leadership has ‘spurned and ridiculed him’