THIRUVANATHAPURAM: Discontent is mounting within the Youth Congress over state president and MLA Rahul Mamkootathil allegedly holding dual posts, with the issue surfacing during the recently concluded state-level study camp in Alappuzha. Notably, the matter was raised by leaders from Palakkad, Rahul’s current political base.
During discussions on the organisational resolution, Palakkad district vice-president Jaseel raised concerns about leaders holding dual posts, although he did not name anyone.
“MLAs are busy with their work in their constituencies. Hence, these leaders could not concentrate on organisational work. It is better that the MLAs who are busy with their work should relinquish organisational posts,” he reportedly said.
Rahul, who responded to the discussions, did not address the dual post issue. The state leadership also refrained from encouraging further debate on the matter.
While the Congress state leadership is openly justifying its association with Jamaat-e-Islami, a representative from Malappuram openly criticised the party’s stand during the political resolution discussion. He cautioned that such an association would allegedly harm the Congress’s prospects.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan’s stand against P V Anvar garnered widespread support at the camp. Most leaders opined that continuing any association with Anvar would be problematic for the Congress, as he allegedly lacks political consistency.
Delegates also rejected a proposal to raise the Youth Congress membership age limit from 35 to 40. Though presented as a leadership proposal, many accused Rahul of being a strong advocate for the change, an allegation dismissed by his associates.
“The national leadership has set the age bar at 40 and this proposal was mooted in line with that,” a leader told TNIE. “However, if we implement this rule, a leader who becomes the state president can continue in the post till he attains 43 years,” he said.
Leaders also called for strengthening unit-level work across the organisation. The organisational report revealed that the Young India project, launched to boost grassroots activities, was not implemented in districts from Ernakulam to Thiruvananthapuram.
“The organisation is now experiencing a dearth of experienced leaders from top to bottom. There is a situation in which a leader who is part of a state committee or district committee could not enter into the committees at the next level. The Congress local leadership is not extending help to those workers who had been subjected to police brutality or slapped with cases. This is affecting the confidence of workers,” the report stated.
In addition, leaders and workers strongly criticised the leadership’s alleged failure to organise protests on key political issues either at the state level or in front of the secretariat.
“The last protest was held a year ago,” a leader told TNIE. “The last secretariat march was held on the issues related to the alleged meeting between RSS leaders and ADGP M R Ajith Kumar. On the next day, a UDF march was taken out and Rahul got arrested. Then he was assigned to Palakkad as a candidate,” he said.