Sarin P

Dr. P. Sarin is an Indian politician, physician and former civil servant from Palakkad, Kerala. He served as the Convener of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Digital Media Cell before being expelled from the Indian National Congress in October 2024. He subsequently contested the Palakkad assembly by-election in November 2024 as an independent candidate backed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), finishing third. Since 2025, he is the strategic advisor to Vijnana Keralam, an initiative to drive Kerala to a knowledge-based economy and to build a skilled workforce in Kerala.

Early life and education Sarin is a Keralite. He received his MBBS degree from Government Medical College, Kozhikode. He was posted in Thiruvananthapuram and later in Karnataka as Deputy Accountant General, before resigning from the central service in 2016 to enter politics.

Political career

Indian National Congress After leaving the civil service, Sarin joined the Indian National Congress. In the 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election, he was fielded by the Congress as the candidate from the Ottapalam constituency, which falls under the Palakkad Lok Sabha seat. He lost the election by 15,152 votes, but increased the Congress's vote share in the constituency by 3.05 per cent.

On 17 October 2024, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee expelled Sarin on disciplinary grounds for anti-party activities.

2024 Palakkad by-election After his expulsion, Sarin was named as the LDF-backed independent candidate for the Palakkad assembly by-election. Following the announcement, he remarked, "I was a Leftist within Congress so far, now I will be a Congressman within the CPM."

The by-election was held on 13 November 2024 and the results were declared on 23 November. Sarin finished third with 37,293 votes, behind the Congress's Rahul Mamkootathil (58,389 votes) and the Bharatiya Janata Party's C. Krishnakumar (39,549 votes).

Personal life Sarin is married to Dr. Soumya Sarin, a senior consultant paediatrician and neonatologist working at Medcare Hospital in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.