Former Speaker Sakthan assumes temporary charge as Thiruvananthapuram DCC president after Palode Ravi resigned over “political gaffe”

Senior Congress leader and former Speaker N. Sakthan has assumed temporary charge as the District Congress Committee (DCC) president of Thiruvananthapuram, replacing party veteran Palode Ravi. 

Mr. Ravi had resigned from the post on Saturday (July 26, 2025) after he came under fire from within the Congress for supposedly broadcasting a defeatist outlook on Congress’ prospects in the upcoming local body elections and the 2026 Assembly polls. 

 Mr. Ravi’s somewhat critical appraisal of what he perceived as a lack of poll preparedness at the Congress’ grassroots level during a private telephone conversation with a party colleague caused a stir in political circles after it was surreptitiously recorded and leaked to the media.

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee has expelled its Congress block general secretary in Vamanapuram, A. Jaleel, from the party in connection with the episode, which it deemed a major political gaffe that provided sensational grist for the ruling front to demoralise the Opposition.

Mr. Sakthan told reporters that Mr. Ravi had taken the fall for an offence the latter did not wilfully commit., “The incident underscores the need for more circumspection from party leaders,” he added. 

Mr. Ravi had somewhat grimly warned the person at the other end of the line that the Congress risked becoming an “unwanted commodity” if the “unenthusiastic and feuding attitude” of workers at the grassroots level persisted. He flagged the Congress perceived lack of boots on the ground. 

Mr. Ravi also cautioned that Muslims, who traditionally vote for the Congress, were gravitating towards the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]. He warned that the Congress workers were becoming increasingly vulnerable to poaching by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose ascendancy, Mr. Ravi felt, had come at a steep cost for the United Democratic Front (UDF). Mr. Ravi later explained that he had merely flagged issues discussed in party committees.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) pounced on Mr. Ravi’s “candid admissions” to put the Congress leadership on the defensive. General Education Minister and CPI(M) State Committee member stated that Mr. Ravi had conceded that a third consecutive Left Democratic Front (LDF) government was a foregone conclusion. He noted that the Leader of the Opposition, V.D. Satheesan, might as well tamp down the UDF’s desire to win 100 Assembly seats to a “more realistic tally of not more than 10.” 

SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan, whose continuing war of words with Mr. Satheesan has drawn attention, chimed in by quipping that he would resign from his post if UDF bagged 100 seats in the 2026 Assembly polls.