The mercurial president of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee K Sudhakaran on Wednesday disclosed that he had helped the RSS during his days in the Congress (O) in the 1970s.
Delivering the M V Raghavan Memorial Speech at Kannur, he said, “It is true that I have helped the RSS with men from my area when they were denied their rights to organize the Sakhas in Kannur, my native district. It was not out of love for the RSS. Their democratic rights and freedom of movement were restricted by the Communists. So I pitched into help them.”
According to Sudhakaran, he always stood for the right to freedom of speech. He said, “The freedom of expression, liberty, justice and right to life are important to all irrespective of differences in political ideologies. I will safeguard the democratic rights of all people enshrined in the Constitution.”
Interestingly, Sudhakaran and Raghavan (a former CPI(M) leader who was ousted from the party and formed CMP which later became a constituent of the Congress-led UDF) were sworn enemies during the latter’s CPI(M) days. Sudhakaran is credited with the emergence of Congress as a major force in Malabar (the four northern districts of Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod) which earned him the title Malabar Simham (the Lion of Malabar). Sudhakaran is a darling of the Muslim masses in the region because of his relentless battle against Sangh Parivar.
On the question of whether he was toying with the idea of joining BJP, he said, “I may do whatever I feel like doing but do not try to put words into my mouth.”
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