THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ever since the KPCC revamp had taken place earlier this year, senior woman Congress leader Laly Vincent has been keeping aloof as this former lone woman state unit vice-president was not accommodated. The woman leader who had done commendable work in Wayanad and Idukki constituencies during the last parliament elections is back to her lawyer responsibilities in the High Court after the lockdown restrictions were relaxed.
Over the last several months, 68-year-old Laly, an ‘I’ group loyalist, has been keeping a low profile after she was denied accommodation in the recent party revamp. While she is a favourite of interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi as well as Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad MP, that has not kept her in good stead in the
scheme of things of KPCC honchos. She has not bothered to complain as she feels that there is no use.
During the last assembly elections, she was fielded against T M Thomas Isaac in Alappuzha and lost by more than 31,000 votes. She had then raised the issue in the party forum claiming that woman candidates are never being provided winnable seats.
In early March, she was deputed to Arunachal Pradesh by the AICC leadership to take classes on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) which she readily took up. On her return to Kochi within a week, she went under home quarantine. She told TNIE that over the last two months, she has evolved into a better human being, rich in worldly wisdom and thoughts acquired through reading a large number of books including the Old Testament.
“My children have been worried seeing me totally confined to home as they have always seen me juggling party programmes and my lawyer commitments. But I have proved them that I can be a good mother and grandmother and an excellent cook. I will not be surprised if I come up with a cookery book comprising a slew of recipes which have been posted daily on our family WhatsApp group," said Laly.
The ever-smiling face of the state Congress and a regular television debater, Laly is a tad disappointed with the way the LDF government in the state had never considered the yeoman services rendered by the health workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. She lamented that the families of health workers should have been given incentives when their spouses, brothers or sisters were away from the warmth of the family.
“The Congress should highlight such issues before the government. Since I am no longer holding the KPCC vice-president's post, I can’t highlight such issues before the public. But a stage has come where I have to make my stand clear," added Laly Vincent who is a leader of repute who calls a spade a spade.