THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At 1pm Thursday, some senior most Congress leaders were closely watching the press meet of Rahul Mamkootathil, as he announced his decision to step down from the Youth Congress state president post after an actor and another woman accused him of indecent conduct. Some leaders, travelling by road, stopped their vehicle on the roadside and watched each word Rahul spoke.
And they were disappointed with his performance, as one leader told TNIE: “I think Rahul still believes he is the flamboyant leader of the party, and he does not even understand the gravity of his actions.”
This gives the exact situation the state Congress and its leadership have landed now. Suddenly everyone is speaking about the after-effects of a new political culture that was hailed as a model just days ago. “The combination of aggression with arrogance and use of social media to unseat opponents at any cost forms the new Congressmen,” a Political Affairs Committee member told TNIE.
According to senior leaders, after two consecutive defeats of UDF in the assembly polls, proponents of this theory got an upper hand in the organisation. The unsettling of Ramesh Chennithala, the incidents that led to denial of Leader of Opposition post to him and the ‘election’ of V D Satheesan as parliamentary party leader though the latter did not enjoy a majority opened the door for this new style of politics. But it came with a heavy price.
With the rise of a new power centre, group equations also changed as Satheesan formed his own team incorporating new blood. Rahul was the latest ‘icon’ of this new-found political equation. Starting as a KSU member at age 17 in 2006, his rise to stardom was enviable. In 2023, Rahul was elected YC state president against the wishes of Oommen Chandy. P C Vishnunadh and Shafi Parambil slowly acted as leaders after they became MLAs and Rahul became a close associate of the two.
Though there was allegation of fake voter ID card issue in the election, Satheesan chose to protect Rahul. “The trio Vishnu, Shafi and Rahul have all the ingredients Satheesan was looking for- an insatiable thirst for power and arrogance,” a leader said.
Within one month, Rahul became the candidate for the Palakkad by-election though the DCC proposed K Muraleedharan. It was Shafi’s pressure that the candidate would be his choice if he vacated the seat to contest from Vadakara LS constituency that helped Rahul, and his candidature led to the exit of several leaders like P Sarin, who was in charge of the party’s social media wing.
“Several leaders knew about Rahul’s behaviour even at that time, which was questionable according to party norms,” a former YC office-bearer said. “But he was protected, dismissing allegations as raising out of jealousy and rivalry. Once Rahul became MLA, he was part of the close-knit circle of Satheesan-Vishnu-Shafi trio,” he said.
They became a formidable, unquestionable force in the Congress. Leaders like Roji M John, Anvar Sadat besides Rahul, Vishnu, P M Niyas and many others were part of it. Satheesan also supported other young leaders like Mathew Kuzhalnadan, C R Mahesh, T Siddique. Satheesan was said to be using the new ‘A’ group in his favour. However, the unfolding of newer allegations of indecent conduct against Rahul day by day has turned out to be a setback for the new ‘A’ group carved out by Vishnu and Shafi.
Dream run & fall of troika
The juggernaut of Vishnu- Shafi-Rahul trio with the association of Satheesan started with their election to the assembly. Later it was instrumental in capturing many KSU district units and making Rahul the YC state president. It reached culmination with Rahul being elected as MLA. “They were unstoppable by then. Many other youth leaders were sidelined. Old leaders were shown the door.
They showed the new generation that handling social media and news media is more important than grassroots work. The way Rahul defamed Padmaja Venugopal publicly after she left Congress and called Pinarayi Vijayan just ‘Vijayan’ was received with applause. Satheesan used them effectively to sideline seniors like Chennithala and K Sudhakaran,” a Congress MLA said.
However, the downfall started with the Nilambur assembly election campaign where the three leaders with Muslim Youth League leader P K Firoz were seen making live reels and photoshoots in open jeep and in rafts.
This invited severe criticism from other MLAs. Calls were made to reject ‘reel politics over real politics’. There was criticism against the inaction of KPCC leadership and Satheesan in curbing such tendencies. The secret visit of Rahul to P V Anvar’s house at midnight after the latter opposed Congress’ candidate in Nilambur caused embarrassment to the party. However, the leadership kept its silence.
“Up to a certain extent, everyone knew Rahul will bring more embarrassment to the party,” a senior leader said. “The statement of Satheesan that he was aware of the misconduct of Rahul after the actor told him about receiving inappropriate messages from the MLA tells the whole story. However, Satheesan washed his hands of the issue first. Shafi and Vishnu with their silence had rejected Rahul. He is all alone now as this fall was an expected one and warning for all those who wish to reach the top using any means,” he said.