Rahul Mamkootathil suspended from Congress: Kerala opposition leader Satheesan hails ‘firm and historic decision’; slams BJP and CPM

Kottayam/Kozhikode/T'puram: Opposition leader V D Satheesan termed the suspension of youth leader and Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil from Congress party as a "firm and determined decision made for the first time by a political party in the state"."As KPCC president (Sunny Joseph) clarified, the party has not received any complaint against Mamkootathil. Congress acted swiftly by suspending him as Youth Congress president within 24 hours. The decision to suspend him from the party and parliamentary party came after consultation with leaders and examining the allegationsSatheesan shot back at M B Rajesh for describing the action against Mamkootathil as "compromise", asking whether he was not ashamed to say this as he became the minister with the support of a rape case accused. He also said a rape case accused was continuing as an MLA in CPM. "We too could have pointed our fingers towards people like them and also BJP allowing a Pocso case accused to be in their high-power committee. The names of several people could be listed from CPM itself. But we didn't do that, he said.This shows the respect and honour the Congress party is giving women. This will certainly be marked in Kerala's political history, he said.The women CPM leaders who have been demanding Mamkootathil's resignation have not sought any action against those in their own party, he said. ‘CPM's demand defies logic'Earlier, Joseph too said the demands raised by CPM and BJP for Mamkootathil's resignation was not justified and defied logic."They do not have the moral authority to make such a demand, nor is there any precedent for it in Kerala politics," Joseph said.When asked whether fear of defeat in a by-election prompted the suspension decision, Joseph said: "If byelection was our concern, there is also the Peermade seat. In the case of Palakkad, there has been no complaint, no case and no precedent of such action in the state. We know the intent behind those making this demand," he said.Strongest decision: ShafiCongress leader and Vadakara MP Shafi Parambil said Congress took the strongest decision. He told reporters that the decision announced by KPCC president was binding on all Congress workers and leaders. KPCC former chief K Sudhakaran welcomed the suspension but said he did not hold the opinion that Mamkootathil should quit as MLA.Cong took a respectful callSenior Congress functionary Ramesh Chennithala said that instead of setting up a commission to gauge the severity of the allegations, the Congress took a most respectful decision by expelling the person against whom allegations were levelled. The CPM has consistently been a party that shelters offenders against women. In both the legislative assembly and govt, there are numerous offenders, and the CPM has always taken a stance to protect them in every possible way. The CPM has a laughable tradition of measuring the severity of offences and exonerating the accused, he alleged.In contrast, when allegations arose against Mamkootathil, he was immediately removed as Youth Congress president. There was no commission set up to measure the severity, said Ramesh.