Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil finds himself isolated as party leadership thinks about his resignation

Congress leader Rahul Mamkootathil, MLA, who is facing accusations of sexual misconduct, appears to find himself increasingly isolated within his party.

The call for his resignation as Palakkad legislator seemed to gain momentum on Sunday (August 24, 2025), with senior leaders, chiefly Ramesh Chennithala, reportedly signalling to the national leadership that Mr Mamkootathil’s continuation as MLA may not bode well for the Congress party in Kerala.

Sources close to Mr. Chennithala said the leader had spoken to All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of organisation, K.C. Venugopal, MP, AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala, Deepa Dasmunsi, and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, Sunny Joseph, MLA, early Sunday (August 24, 2025) and conveyed his perspective about the options open to the party to put the festering controversy to rest.

They said that Mr. Chennithala underscored the likelihood of more accusations, possibly questionable but potentially damaging, emerging in the public domain against Mr. Mamkootathil.

The beleaguered legislator’s hold on the party leadership appeared increasingly tenuous and waning by the minute.

Former KPCC president K. Muraleedharan said the party had modified its earlier position that Mr. Mamkootathil’s resignation as State Youth Congress president would put the controversy to rest.

“The emergence of more supposedly incriminatory audio clips, irrespective of their veracity, has forced the party to rethink its political options to mitigate the vexing situation”, he said in Thrissur.

Leader of the Opposition, V.D. Satheesan, had signalled on Saturday (August 23, 2025) that Mr. Mamkootathil’s exit as State Youth Congress president was merely a precursor to more stringent action.

The increasingly strident demand for admonitory action from an array of women leaders, including Shanimol Usman, Bindu Krishna, and Deepti Mary Varghese, all of the Congress, and Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader K.K. Rema, MLA, a Congress ally, seemed cold comfort for the hard-pressed lawmaker. Congress legislator Uma Thomas stated that political propriety demanded Mr. Mamkootathil resign as MLA.

A Congress insider said hectic one-to-ones were on the party’s apex hierarchy in Kerala to examine the legal and electoral fallout of any potential move to seek Mr. Mamkootathil’s resignation.

“The Congress has to factor in the political risks of a possible Assembly by-election in Palakkad, given that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had emerged second in the constituency. Moreover, the social reverberations of the controversy seemed unlikely to abate any time soon, given the legal jeopardy Mr. Mamkootathil will likely face in the future”, he said.