Kerala: Setback for Cong in Palakkad as former youth leader may contest as rebel

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 20 Former Kerala Youth Congress Sate Secretary A. K. Shanib, who on Saturday told media persons that Congress had been hijacked by a coterie and that several leaders and cadres were suffocating within the party, said on Sunday that he is likely to contest the upcoming Palakkad by-election as a rebel candidate.

Shanib, who was also the former district president of the Congress student body, Kerala Students Union (KSU), was expelled by the Congress party on Saturday following his remarks.

He accused the group hijacking the party of being led by state Opposition leader V. D. Satheesan, and including former Palakkad MLA and current Vadakara MP Shafi Parambil, as well as Congress candidate for the upcoming Palakkad by-election, Rahul Mankootathil.

The former Youth Congress leader, speaking to media persons in Palakkad on Sunday, said that he had considered leaving the party and joining the CPI-M.

However, many of his former colleagues and party leaders advised him not to join the CPI-M but instead contest the election as a rebel. Shanib added that he would make a final decision by Sunday evening, and noted that several senior party leaders and cadres within the Congress were ready to leave the party.

State Congress social media head P. Sarin, who joined Congress after quitting the IA&AS, had also resigned from the party after making serious allegations against Satheesan, Shafi, and Rahul.

Sarin is now contesting the Palakkad by-election as a Left-backed Independent and is providing stiff competition to Congress candidate Rahul Mankootathil.

The Palakkad Assembly constituency is seeing a three-way contest between Congress candidate Rahul Mankootathil, former Congress leader Sarin, and BJP state General Secretary C. Krishnakumar.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, BJP had fielded ‘Metro Man’ E. Sreedharan, who lost the seat by a margin of 3,840 votes to Shafi Parambil.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Shafi Parambil was fielded by Congress from the Vadakara seat, where he defeated one of the CPI-M’s most popular leaders, former Kerala Health Minister K. K. Shailaja, from a Left stronghold.

The Palakkad by-election was necessitated after Shafi resigned following his win from the Vadakara Lok Sabha seat.

With Shanib announcing his intention to contest the Palakkad by-election as a rebel candidate, BJP holds an advantage in the constituency.

Source: IANS