Sankar held office for nearly 2 years before losing a no-confidence motion when dissenters within the Congress party split to form the Kerala Congress, following the resignation and subsequent death of P. T. Chacko.

the Chacko loyalists in the Congress party grouped together and formed the Kerala Congress under the leadership of K. M. George with the blessings of Mannath Padmanabhan, NSS supremo.

With Chacko's failure to win the party presidentship and his subsequent death, 15 Congress MLAs split from the parent party under the leadership of K. M. George.

The government which was running on a narrow majority subsequently went on to lose the no confidence motion 73-50.

The two parties together garnered nearly 45% of the vote share, evidently showing that a united Congress would have returned to power.