Senior leader and three-time MLA Sunny Joseph on Monday took charge as the new president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) at an event here.
In a function held at the party headquarters here, outgoing president K Sudhakaran handed over the charge of the party state unit to Joseph.
Besides Joseph, PC Vishnunath MLA, Shafi Parambil MP, and AP Anil Kumar MLA assumed office as working presidents of the state Congress, and Adoor Prakash MP took charge as the UDF convener during the ceremony.
Several party leaders and workers gathered at the headquarters to witness the long-awaited leadership change ahead of the upcoming crucial local body polls and the state assembly election.
After taking charge, Joseph criticised both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre and the CPI(M) government in the state.
The new KPCC chief accused the BJP of "trying to use" the Britishers' divide-and-rule policy in the country.
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Only the Congress party can effectively counter the BJP in the country, he said, adding that the CPI(M) has no role in the fight.
Joseph also accused the Marxist party of "indulging in corruption" and "politics of violence".
During his address, Sudhakaran said even if he is no longer the president of KPCC, he would continue to be at the forefront of the party's fight against the ruling CPI(M) in the state.
"Stepping down as KPCC Chief is not an issue for me. I will continue to be at the forefront of the party with you (workers). We want to fight...we want to succeed...we want to rule. We should be able to showcase the strength of the Congress party on the administrative front," he said.
The former president also listed various achievements of the party during his tenure as KPCC Chief and claimed that it was a period of achievements alone.
AICC general secretary KC Venugopal reposed faith in the new KPCC team led by Joseph.
During his address, he appealed to party leaders and workers to stand unitedly, shedding all kinds of differences.
The party would risk becoming irrelevant unless the leaders and workers are not ready to set aside their selfish interests and commit to working hard.
AICC general secretary (in-charge of Kerala) Deepa Das Munshi, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan, senior Congress leaders K Muraleedharan, and M M Hassan were among those who spoke during the occasion.
Before proceeding to the KPCC headquarters, Sunny Joseph visited Congress veteran AK Antony at his residence here and sought his support and blessings for the new role.
Addressing reporters here later, Antony said he has full confidence in the new team under Joseph.
He said the AICC leadership has entrusted the team with the responsibility of bringing back the Congress-led UDF into power in Kerala in the upcoming Assembly polls.
"I have complete confidence that the new team led by Joseph can fulfil their responsibility. If they can win the trust of all sections of people besides strengthening the Congress and the UDF, we can achieve a greater victory in 2026 than the party garnered in 2001," he said.
It was on May 8 that the AICC underwent a complete overhaul of the leadership in the state by replacing Sudhakaran with three-time MLA Sunny Joseph, ending weeks of uncertainty over a change of guard in the Congress party in Kerala.
Although Sudhakaran had expressed his disapproval of the move to remove him from the KPCC post, the party high command took the decision to bring in a new face ahead of the crucial elections in the state.
Sudhakaran has been made a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), in a bid to balance the group equations within the party unit in Kerala.
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