“There is no place for personal enmity in politics,” says G. Sudhakaran on ex-Kerala CM Pinarayi’s MLA abuse

File photo of former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan (right) with G. Sudhakaran, MLA | Photo credit: S. RAMESHKURUP

G. Sudhakaran, who was sworn in as Pro Tem Speaker on Wednesday (May 20, 2026), said he had no enmity with his former CPI(M) colleague and former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as “there is no place for personal grudges in politics”.

Mr. Sudhakaran, a former CPI(M) leader who won from the Ambalappuzha Assembly as an independent candidate supported by the UDF, also said he did not see “any difference” between Mr. Vijayan and any other MLA who would be sworn in on Thursday.

He said the MLAs would be summoned in some predetermined order by the Assembly Secretary and as Pro Tem Speaker he only had to initiate the oath taking process and the rest would be read out by the legislators themselves.

“Vijayan is only an MLA like the rest of us. He was CM twice but I was also a minister in one of his regimes. I have no enmity with him. There is no place for personal enmity in politics. It damages those who have it,” Mr Sudhakaran told the TV station.

Regarding his exit from the CPI(M), he said that he had been with it for 63 years before he decided not to renew his membership.

“In this way I have ceased to be a party. I have not resigned nor been removed from the CPI(M),” he said.

On the CPI(M)’s defeat in the parliamentary polls, Mr. Sudhakaran said that Mr. Vijayan and CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan were also responsible for it, but he had no opinion on whether they should resign from their respective positions in the Left party.

Published – 20 May 2026 11:36 IST