The Congress on Monday suspended MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil from the party, days after he stepped down as the Youth Congress’s Kerala state president in the wake of allegations of misconduct from women.
He was suspended from the primary membership of the party, but will continue as a legislator. He was elected from the Palakkad Assembly seat in November last year in a byelection.
Pressure had been mounting on the Congress leadership to seek Mamkoottathil’s resignation. Several people from within the party, including women, openly came out demanding the same as the issue snowballed into a major scandal in Kerala.
Mamkoottathil was forced to quit as the state Youth Congress president on Thursday after a TV journalist-turned-actor Rini Ann George accused an unnamed “young politician” of sending her obscene messages and inviting her to a hotel room. The revelation followed intense speculation that she was referring to the Palakkad MLA. Subsequently, other women also came out and accused him of misconduct. Malayalam news channel Reporter TV also released audio clips, allegedly of Mamkoottathil urging a woman to get an abortion.
There is no police complaint against him so far.
While there has been mounting calls for Mamkoottathil to quit as a legislator, a section of Congress leaders have pointed out that the ruling CPI(M) had not made its MLA, M Mukesh, resign after he was chargesheeted in a rape case last year. Besides, in 2022, when Congress sitting legislator Eldhose Kunnappally faced a rape case, the party had only suspended him from membership, allowing him to continue as a legislator. Later, the suspension was revoked.
Another factor that forced the Congress to allow Mamkoottathil to continue as legislator was that he got elected just last November. Although the state Assembly elections are less than a year away, another by-election in Rahul’s constituency, Palakkad, would prove to be a tough test for the Congress, where the BJP was the runner up.
On Sunday, Mamkoottathil told the media, “I don’t want to see the party or any of its workers bowing their heads in shame on account of me. I have always been fighting for the party’s cause. I don’t want to see the party face an attack and they should not face any issue on account of me.”
