PALAKKAD: Congress MLA from Thrithala V T Balram has kicked up a row with his Facebook post on the private life of Communist stalwart A K Gopalan, who was Leader of the Opposition in the first Lok Sabha.Initially, the comment on AKG’s moral standards was in response to an FB user who had questioned the alleged sexual harassment of solar scam accused Saritha Nair by various Congress leaders.
This was followed by a detailed post on Friday in which Balram said AKG’s wife Susheela was only 22 at the time of the couple’s marriage. According to Balram, it is said the marriage was the culmination of a decade-long courtship. Then one can guess the age of Susheela Gopalan at the time, he said.
Balram quoted from a write-up titled ‘Love in the time of struggles’ which had appeared in an English-language national daily in December 2001 to buttress his claim. Based on the details given in the article, he said while in hiding AKG had stayed in Susheela’s house in early 1940 when he developed an intimacy towards her. According to Balram, Susheela, who was born in 1929, would have been just 11 or 12 in 1940.
After being jailed, the middle-aged AKG promised to marry Susheela on being released from prison and subsequently, he married Susheela even as his first wife was still alive, the FB post said. Balram said AKG’s memoir also reflects the fascination a girl of Susheela’s age can have for a man who was the tallest leader of the time and the affection he had for her.According to Balram, AKG is viewed as an idol by multitudes and he has been widely lauded for his services in public life and Parliament. But facts about his private life which are in the public domain will be discussed whether his followers like it or not.
In the past, some persons had targeted litterateur Paul Zacharia who didn’t mince words while commenting on AKG. Zacharia was eventually silenced. However, such ‘intolerance’ will not always work, Balram said.The office of Balram in Thrithala was attacked with liquor bottles and stones by some miscreants after the appearance of the FB post. However, none was hurt since the office had remained closed at the time.