Congress In Kerala Caught In Row Over YC Chief’s Election

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Nothing seems to be going right for the Congress in Kerala. As if the plethora of problems already plaguing the party were not enough, the Congress is caught in a major controversy over the election of the Youth Congress state president.

The charge against the Youth Congress is that YC activists counterfeited Election Commission of India (ECI) voter ID cards to tilt the electoral field in favour of their faction in the just-concluded online organizational elections.

In a swift action, the Kerala Police have arrested four YC activists. Nearly 7.5 lakh purported YC workers voted in the election which saw Rahul Mamkoottathil belonging to the ‘A’ group emerge as the new State president. The Police have summoned Rahul too for questioning in connection with the electoral ‘fraud’. Several digital devices, including pen drives, mobile phones and laptop computers have been seized from the arrested YC activists. Reports also say that the investigators have managed to find digital evidence pointing to the creation of 1.25 lakh fake ID cards. The police is in close consultation with Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kaul’s office.

On its part, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) has alleged that the suspects were close aides of Rahul. They have demanded that leader of the opposition V D Satheesan should also be brought under the ambit of their investigation.

Meanwhile, Abin Varkey Kodiyattu, who lost to Rahul in the election, has alleged that complains were galore. Reports have it that at least four vice-presidents who hail from Thiruvananthapuram and Pathanamthitta districts have approached the YC central leadership against the bogus votes. According to Rahul Krishna, one of the complainants, the central leadership has been flooded with complaints about missing votes and over 2 lakh invalid votes.

Needless to say, the Controversy has created major embarrassment to the Congress leadership both at the state and central levels. The party leadership is angry with the YC for giving the CPI(M) a handle to harass the Congress. The party also appeared to disown the four YC activists who have been taken into custody and later freed on bail. The controversy has also brought into the open the simmering factionalism in the YC. While VD Satheesan backs Rahul Mamkoottathil, former leader of the opposition Ramesh Chennithala favoured Abin Varkey. Whatever the denouement, the issue has brought shame to the party apart from damaging its credibility. The party’s frequently-repeated allegations of electoral malpractices against the BJP will no longer carry conviction in the wake of the fake ID card issue.

How the party leadership will ride out the political storm remains to be seen. From the look of things, it is not going to be an easy task. The controversy has put the A group in a big soup. The A group leaders are already facing criticism for failing to turn the heat on the LDF Government. Leaders belonging to the rival I group in the Congress are on record that the controversy has come at a time when both the Congress and its youth wings should have been upping the ante against the Pinarayi Government. It is interesting to note that Chandy Oommen, former CM Oommen Chandy’s son, has remained neutral. Embarrassed A group leaders are trying to fend off criticism by putting the blame on DYFI and the BJP.

In the meantime, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Kerala has sent a notice to the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) following complaints that bogus electoral ID cards issued by the ECI were used in the recent Youth Congress state organizational elections.

A protracted political as well as legal battle is in the offing in the days to come. If the allegations of fraud are proved in a court of law, the Congress will have to pay a heavy penalty in terms of loss of credibility. And that is a luxury the Congress in Kerala, which is trying its level best to wrest the State from the Left Democratic Front (LDF), cannot afford. (IPA Service)