THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Allegations of a political conspiracy not withstanding, the arrest of Kovalam MLA M Vincent on the basis of the complaint of a 52-year-old woman for sexually torturing her is set to give a big blow to the Congress. Irrespective of whether he was trapped and docked at the instance of the local CPM leaders as alleged by him or not, the political stakes of the Congress and the UDF as well as at a personal level of the novice MLA remain high. Vincent, a newcomer to the Assembly and one among the backbenchers in the Opposition row, had been a vociferous critic of the government on various issues, and thus a marked man of the Left.
Vincent, a staunch Oommen Chandy loyalist, has also a strong bond with Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. Chandy told Express he firmly believed the case was cooked up against Vincent. “There is clear evidence the local CPM leaders were working overtime to corner the MLA and for the role played by them in this case. Let the probe be completed in a non-partisan manner. Truth will prevail ultimately,” he said. “There is no need for Vincent to quit Assembly,” he said.
Will discuss issue: Chennithala
“This is a very unusual situation. The party will discuss the matter and take a final decision,” Chennithala told Express. Vincent is understood to have offered to resign his Assembly membership, but leaders are adopting a wait-and-watch approach.
Despite top party leaders striking a valiant and, to some extent, cautious posture and trying to protect Vincent,the clamour for his resignation as MLA is rising from within the Congress and outside. Mahila Congress leaders Bindu Krishna and Shanimol Usman demanded Vincent should resign his Assembly membership and the party should initiate an internal probe into the allegations against him.
Meanwhile, the CPM, keen to derive maximum political mileage from the issue, is going ahead with a Secretariat march on Monday demanding the MLA’s resignation.
2nd MLA from Kovalam to face harassment charges
The Assembly segment, one of the acclaimed tourist hotspots in the world, perhaps also carries the tag of its MLAs falling willy-nilly into sexual harassment cases. Neelalohitadasan Nadar had lost his ministerial chair from the E K Nayanar Ministry over a charge of sexual harassment raised by a currently serving senior woman bureaucrat. Interestingly, including Neelalohithadasan Nadar,none of the MLAs right from the late P T Chacko to A K Saseendran, one who ate humble pie over sexual harassment charges before M Vincent, had quit their Assembly membership.
Parties, as a rule so far,remained content by stripping the trappings of power, if any, attached to such an MLA at the time when the charges cropped up. Many had quit ministerships but none had quit the Assembly. When many MLAs went into oblivion and didn’t contest the polls thereafter, Nadar won the Assembly polls with a thumping majority from the same Kovalam segment after he faced the electorate in the thick of the sexual harassment charges. Interestingly,Vincent had wrested the Kovalam seat for the UDF from Jameela Prakasam, Nadar’s wife and JD(S) candidate,in the 2016 Assembly polls.
‘Hall of Shame’
P T Chacko (Cong) - He was elected in 1957 to the first Kerala Legislative Assembly from Vazhoor constituency. He later represented Meenachil constituency in the second Kerala Legislative Assembly and handled Home, Revenue and Law portfolio in the Pattom Thanu Pillai Government from February 22, 1960 to September 26, 1962. In the R Sankar Government, he handled the same portfolios from September 26, 1962 - February 20, 1964. He resigned as Home and Revenue Minister in 1964 following sexual allegations.
A Neelalohithadasan Nadar(LDF)- He was accused of sexually harassing a senior woman IAS officer in 2000 and had to step down.
P K Kunhalikutty (UDF) forced to quit Oommen Chandy Government in the wake of ice cream parlour sex scandal in 2005.
P J Joseph (then LDF),resigns as Works Minister after he was accused of misbehaving with a woman passenger on board a Chennai-Kochi Kingfisher Airlines(KFA) flight in 2006.
K B Ganesh Kumar (then UDF) - a minister in the then Oommen Chandy Government- leaves office following allegations of domestic violence levelled by his wife in 2013.
Jose Thettayil(LDF)- He was accused of sexual liaisons with his son’s fiancee in 2013. However, he was told not to resign by the then LDF state committee.
A K Saseendran(LDF) - He was accused of engaging in sleaze talk with a woman in a sting operation conducted by a TV channel. He had to resign in April 2017 after the channel aired transcripts of the lewd conversation.
Vincent’s resignation sought
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kovalam MLA M Vincent’s arrest has come as a major setback to the Opposition UDF and its leading partner Congress. Demands for his resignation have come from various corners, including from within the Congress. Women leaders from the Congress, including Bindu Krishna and Shanimol Usman, have demanded his resignation.
The LDF district committee too has demanded his resignation. CPM veteran V S Achuthanandan said Vincent should step down so as to avoid putting the Kerala Assembly’s reputation under a cloud. CPM district secretary Anavoor Nagappan told reporters the housewife was being harassed by the MLA for several years. He said the victim had revealed this to a priest and a nun and this is more than enough to prove Vincent is guilty. “Vincent should not continue as a legislator. He should be removed. It’s a disgrace to democracy,” he said.
VS urges MLA to resign
T’Puram: CPM veteran V S Achuthanandan has called upon Kovalam MLA M Vincent - accused of rape, stalking and abetment of suicide - to resign immediately. The Kerala Assembly should not be brought under a cloud, he said. Achuthanandan said an MLA being arrested in a rape case will be a blot on the Assembly.