Kerala local body polls 2025: With MLA Rahul Mamkootathil’s expulsion, Congress seeks to reshape campaign dynamics

With less than 100 hours left for the crucial first phase of the local body polls, the expulsion of Palakkad legislator Rahul Mamkootathil from the Congress is dominating electoral politics in the State.

The Congress, which gave the young legislator a long rope after being embroiled in allegations of rape, coerced termination of pregnancy and sexual misconduct, called it a day on Thursday and expelled him from the organisation. The action, according to many political observers, was a politically delayed one for the party. The expulsion, which came almost a week after the crucial revelations, is being viewed as an attempt to contain the political damage caused to the party’s poll prospects and the United Democratic Front (UDF), especially among women voters.

“It is a fact that some confusion had prevailed amongthe publicfollowing the controversies surrounding the legislator. However, after expelling him from the party, the Congress has come clean and is now on a strong footing. The party has upheld its moral conviction through the action,” said former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Mullappally Ramachandran.

Mr. Ramachandran felt that Mr. Mamkootathil should step down as a member of the State Legislative Assembly“After his expulsion from the organisation, the party has nothing to do with him. Now, it is his personal choice whether to continue as an MLA or not. It would be better if he resigned from the post,” he said.

Even while admitting that the controversies had initially sown seeds of confusion among the party workers, Mr. Ramachandran noted that there was enough time left for the party to put its act together. The Congress, being a democratic party, will have to adhere to its organisational rules and procedures while taking such crucial decisions, he said.

Political analyst G. Gopakumar felt the delayed action did much damage to the Congress at a time when the ruling dispensation was feeling the heat of the Sabarimala controversies and anti-incumbency factor. The developments forced the Congress in a reverse gear. Had Mr. Mamkootathil been expelled earlier, the issues would not have precipitated to the present level and the party could have saved its face. The delayed action gave the impression that the party was attempting to shield him, said Mr. Gopakumar.

A few senior Congress leaders, who candidly conceded that the stand adopted by the legislator following the controversies had adversely affected the prospects of the party, hoped that his expulsion would eventually help the party recover from the political damage.

Benny Behanan, Congress MP, felt that the legislator should have surrendered before the law immediately after the controversies erupted. “Such an act from his side would have saved himself and the organisation from political ignominy. The whole controversy also would have died down by now, had he yielded himself to the law,” said Mr. Behanan.

Sajana B. Sajan, State general secretary of the Youth Congress, who wrote to the party national leadership last week demanding stern action against the legislator, said her stand on the issue proved right with his expulsion.

Ms. Sajan, who had earlier asked the party to appoint an inquiry commission led by women to probe the issue, felt that the issue had created confusion among the women voters as well as pro-women activists.

“If not for a section of the party leaders, Mr. Mamkootathil would have been expelled from the organisation at least one day earlier. Yet, the expulsion cannot be termed as a delayed action and the developments are unlikely to leave any impact on the poll prospects of the party,” she said.

The unprecedented political developments have also set the social media scene on fire with the Left handles vowing to take ‘political revenge’ on the fallen Congress leader.

Some workers of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, who were infuriated over Mr. Mamkootathil’s controversial remarks about the food packet distribution programme of the organisation for patients and bystanders in medical colleges across the State, vowed to pack food in newspapers which would report the news of his expulsion and police arrest. The legislator had earlier alleged that immoral activities were taking place under the guise of food packet distribution.

The legal recourse of approaching the Kerala High Court for a pre-arrest bail is still open for Mr. Mamkootathil, though a district court denied him anticipatory bail on Thursday, said legal experts.