Opposition Leader V. D. Satheeshan said the Congress had unanimously decided to expel MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil immediately after the KPCC president received a direct complaint from a survivor on December 2, Tuesday.
“The decision the Congress has taken should serve as a model for all political parties,” Satheeshan said.
Notably, the survivor who submitted her complaint of sexual assault and coerced abortion to the Chief Minister on November 28 later sent the same complaint to the KPCC as well. However, the party did not take any particular action based on that complaint at the time. When questions arose, KPCC president Sunny Joseph explained that the complaint had already been forwarded by the CMO to the Kerala Police, which registered a case, and that the Congress had nothing further to do on it.
Interestingly, the KPCC president had repeatedly described the December 2 email as a complaint without a proper address or identity, while the opposition leader now claims that the party took a unanimous decision in the aftermath of receiving this very complaint.
The complainant behind the December 2 email wrote that she felt morally compelled to speak up about the sexual assaults she faced after hearing the KPCC president publicly state that no complaints had been received against Rahul. Nevertheless, the Congress now claims the moral high ground and challenges the CPI(M) and others to take similar action against tainted leaders in their own parties.
“Will the CPI(M) be willing to hand over the complaints stuck in the Chief Minister’s Office and at the AKG Centre to the police and allow action to be taken?” Satheeshan asked. He alleged that, in Mamkoottathil’s case, the government’s only intention was to keep the issue alive until the local body elections so that the Sabarimala gold row and the rising anti-government sentiment would not dominate public attention.
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Satheeshan reiterated that the Congress leadership had unanimously decided to suspend Mamkoottathil even before any formal complaint was received, acting on what became clear after the audio clips emerged. He said it was only now that for the first time a written complaint has been directly filed by a survivor against the Palakkad MLA.
“When a second complaint reached the KPCC president, all the leaders together unanimously decided to remove him from the party. Today, the party has merely announced that decision,” he said, adding that whether it was announced yesterday or today makes no difference. “When such a serious case arose, we did not try to shield the accused or protect him. We handed over the complaint to the police.”
Notably, the Congress has still not demanded that Mamkoottathil resign from his MLA post.
“Whether someone expelled from the party chooses to resign or not is his decision. No political party in the country or the state has taken a decision like this. Yet some media outlets are sidelining this and talking about technicalities,” Satheeshan said. “Why did nobody raise such ‘technicality’ questions when a rape-accused MLA continued to sit in the CPI(M)?”
Satheeshan claimed the CPI(M) never expected the Congress to take such a decision. “The decision the Congress took is a model for all political parties. The Congress stands proud. Now the question is this: Will the CPI(M) finally hand over the complaints it has received over the years to the police and allow action to be taken?” he asked.
