THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: RSP state secretary A A Azeez on Friday kicked up a row in the UDF by alleging that the Rajya Sabha ticket given to Mahila Congress state president Jebi Mather is a payment seat. Despite backtracking from his statement later in the day, the damage was done with Congress MP Rajmohan Unnithan demanding stringent action against the RSP veteran.
Since there is already internal bickering in the Congress over the Rajya Sabha seat given to 43-year-old Jebi after sidelining former Alappuzha district Congress chief M Liju and party executive committee member Jaison Joseph, the latest controversy triggered by the RSP leader has come at the most inopportune time. Azeez made the controversial statement here during the RYF state meeting.
“Jebi Mather got the party ticket after making a payment,” said Azeez. But within minutes, he denied saying so and maintained that what he meant was that both the Rajya Sabha seats (P V Abdul Wahab of IUML) have gone to minority communities.
“I did not say that the Rajya Sabha ticket is a payment seat. RSP is a part of the UDF and the payment seat controversy is just an inference,” clarified Azeez. Senior Congress MP Unnithan sprang into action and demanded stringent action against the RSP leader. He rubbished Azeez’s claim and unleashed his tirade against him. “Azeez has been trying to create a rift in the UDF for quite some time. He should prove his allegation on who had made the payment and who got it,” said Unnithan.
Meanwhile, Jebi stepped down from the roles of Aluva councillor and vice-chairperson of Aluva Municipality on Sunday. She will be filing her nomination papers on Monday around noon before the legislative assembly secretary. Jebi told TNIE that it was Congress president Sonia Gandhi who had approved her candidature.