THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The script for Mahila Congress state president Jebi Mather getting a Rajya Sabha ticket was hatched by party national general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan with the connivance of the ‘A’ group.
State Congress president K Sudhakaran, who endorsed former Alappuzha district chief M Liju, had to accept the decision as the central leadership decided in favour of the woman candidate from a minority community. The names of Jaison Joseph and Satheesan Pacheni were also in the state panel.
Jebi will be the second woman Congress leader from the state to represent the Upper House after Leela Damodara Menon in 1974. While all the nominees were equally eligible for the ticket, what favoured 43-year-old Jebi was the convergence of woman card, minority and youth factors. It was an easy walkover for Jebi from the incumbent post of deputy chairperson of Aluva municipality to state Mahila Congress president to Rajya Sabha candidate.
Apart from senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy supporting Jebi, the role played by Chalakudy MP Benny Behanan also proved crucial. A senior Congress leader told TNIE that Behanan has been close to Venugopal for quite some time now.
Liju told TNIE that being a disciplined party leader, he wholeheartedly supports the Central leadership’s decision. “Since there were a handful of ticket aspirants, the leadership decided to come up with norms. I was fielded against a powerful G Sudhakaran in the 2011 assembly elections from Ambalapuzha seat when my Youth Congress colleagues were offered winning seats,” said Liju.
Jebi’s appointment comes at a time when the Congress was being alleged of not giving due share to women leaders and also about lack of representation for minority community after Thalekunnil Basheer in 1984. When Socialist leader K P Unnikrishnan returned to Congress, he was offered the Vadakara seat in the 1974 assembly elections removing the incumbent Leela Damodara Menon. She was instead sent to Rajya Sabha as a consolation by K Karunakaran then. Now it is 48 years since a woman Congress leader from the state is being sent to Rajya Sabha.