THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The arrest and subsequent release of Youth Congress state vice-president KS Sabarinadhan might have energised the organisation once again. However, the sequence of events that led to his arrest including the leaking of the WhatsApp chat posted in the organisation’s official group for state leaders has exposed the dissidence brewing within.
The state and national leaders don’t have any clue on the persons who had leaked the screenshot that was sure to trap Sabarinadhan. Following the controversy, the settings of the YC WhatsApp group have been changed allowing only administrators like state president Shafi Parambil and state general secretary Jobin Joseph to post messages.
It is learnt that the leadership has launched an enquiry to find out the “traitor” who had leaked the screenshot. Sources close to Shafi suspect that there is concerted effort to paint him as a failed president. They also cite the recent controversy over the alleged sexual assault against a Dalit woman leader during the YC Chintan Shivir in Palakkad as another controversy to defame Shafi.
When Sabarinadhan was arrested, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan and Shafi were in the assembly. Shafi rushed to Shankhumukham to express his solidarity with the outfit’s vice-president who was arrested in a dramatic manner by the police, who described Sabarinadhan as the “master brain” behind the alleged attack bid on the CM on an IndiGo flight.
Since he lost in the 2021 assembly election from Aruvikkara, Sabarinadhan has been concentrating exclusively on YC activities. Despite his keenness to become the Thiruvananthapuram district Congress chief, the criterion that defeated candidates should not be made the district chief played spoilsport for him. In the YC leadership, Shafi and Sabarinadhan have got the support of another vice-president Rijil Makkutty, based in Kannur.
Sources said there is a powerful dissident group comprising Riyas Mukkoli, N S Nussoor, S J Premraj and S M Balu. The dissident group has sought the intervention of national YC leadership to probe the reasons behind Sabarinadhan’s arrest. “There will be a change of guard in Congress leadership in some districts after the Chintan Shivir being held this weekend in Kozhikode. Thiruvananthapuram is a district where the incumbent president is likely to be changed. Now, there is a young and eligible contender for the post,” said a YC leader, arguing that the episode will turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Sabarinadhan.