Congress in Kerala expels party dissident P. Sarin after row over Palakkad bypoll candidature

KPCC president expels dissident Sarin for anti-party activities, sparking political turmoil in Kerala Congress circles.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran has expelled the party’s digital media convenor-turned-dissident P. Sarin from the organisation’s primary membership.

In a terse communique on Thursday (October 17, 2024), Mr. Sudhakaran accused Mr. Sarin of “indiscipline and anti-Congress activity.”

Mr. Sarin had invited the KPCC’s wrath by rejecting the party’s decision to field Youth Congress State president Rahul Mamkootathil as the party’s candidate for the Assembly bypoll in Palakkad. 

He had written a letter to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) protesting the party High Command’s decision.

Mr. Sarin had alleged that the party leadership had given a short shift to the aspirations of ordinary Congress workers in Palakkad by “importing a weak candidate with little local connections” from Pathanamthitta. 

Mr. Sarin said he perceived “a secret political gambit” to help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Palakkad bypoll as a quid pro quo for the Congress candidate Shafi Parambil’s victory in the Vadakara constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He said Mr. Mamkootathil was Mr. Parambil’s pick.

Mr. Parambil denied the accusation and said that Mr. Mamkootathil was the party’s high command’s informed choice.