The state leadership has been particularly anxious about the negative spotlight on Wayanad, a constituency that has gained national attention as Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s parliamentary seat.
Published Sep 25, 2025 | 6:06 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 25, 2025 | 6:06 PM
Kalpetta Municipality chairman TJ Isaac has been asked to hold the additional charge as the interim DCC president until a replacement is finalised.
Synopsis: Reports said that Priyanka Gandhi had expressed her displeasure over the functioning of the DCC, the suicides, and the party’s inability to find land to build houses for the victims of Chooralmala landslides. She had promised to help raise funds for the rehabilitation works.
There seems to be no end to the Congress’s woes in Wayanad.
Even as factionalism and the suicides of leaders have been plaguing the party, senior Congress leader and Wayanad District Congress Committee (DCC) president ND Appachan resigned from the post on Thursday, 25 September.
His resignation, said to be in line with directions from the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), follows mounting concerns within the state leadership over the public rift between rival groups in Wayanad.
Kalpetta Municipality chairman TJ Isaac has been asked to hold the additional charge as the interim DCC president until a replacement is finalised.
For months, the Wayanad Congress had been split vertically, with one faction rallying behind Appachan and the other led by Sulthan Bathery MLA IC Balakrishnan. Incidentally, Balakrishnan was earlier the DCC president and was forced to resign.
Their repeated clashes, often spilling into the open, forced the KPCC to step in with warnings.
The unrest deepened after the suicides of local leaders, further denting the party’s image in the district.
The state leadership has been particularly anxious about the negative spotlight on Wayanad, a constituency that has gained national attention as Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s parliamentary seat. Incidentally, Appachan resigned shortly after Priyanka Gandhi’s low-profile, 12-day visit to her constituency. She left Wayanad on 22 September.
Appachan’s exit comes just as the KPCC is preparing to overhaul DCC presidents across Kerala, a move aimed at tightening organisational discipline ahead of the local body polls.
Reports said that Priyanka Gandhi had expressed her displeasure over the functioning of the DCC, the suicides, and the party’s inability to find land to build houses for the victims of Chooralmala landslides. She had promised to help raise funds for the rehabilitation works.
Earlier, there were reports that the All India Congress Committee (AICC) had asked the KPCC to urgently settle the Wayanad infighting.
With Appachan out, the Congress hopes to calm the turbulence in its Wayanad unit before the electoral season picks up.
