The Congress party in Kerala suffered a major reverse with KC Rosakkutty, Vice-President, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and a former MLA from Batheri (Wayanad) and chairperson of State Womens’ Commission, left the party accusing it of constantly under mining the self-esteem of its women leaders.
Rosakkutty took grave exception to the party’s attitude towards the claims of leaders of Lathika Subhash’s calibre and experience and said she was saddened by the manner in which she continues to be ridiculed for her ‘supreme act of self-denial.’ This is what has prompted the decision to leave the party with immediate effect.
Lathika Subhash, President of the Kerala Mahila Congress and another senior party leader, created a sensation in front of the office of the KPCC by tonsuring her head in public view on being told that she had been denied the Ettumanoor seat where she is now an independent candidate.
Rosakkutty told presspersons in Wayanad that she would now work with the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). PK Sreemathi, its former MP and a minister in the State government, formally inducted Rosakkutty into the front.
The latest development comes about as survey after pre-poll survey predict the return of the LDF to power, bucking a trend in which the LDF and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has ruled the state by turn every five years. The monotonous predictions seem to have upset the UDF and embarrassed the LDF.
Ramesh Chennithala, Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly and senior Congress leader, said that the surveys are being operated by proxies of the LDF from its headquarters here with a view to influencing voter minds. “We don’t believe in these doctored surveys; we prefer to wait for the verdict of the people,” he said.
On the other hand, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed the fear that the positive sentiments in favour of the LDF by successive surveys could engender a wrong sense of complacency among its cadres and warned them against being carried away.