KOZHIKODE: The Congress-led Opposition’s ‘Puthuyuga Yatra’ led by Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan ran into controversy in Kuttiady on Wednesday after a brief scuffle broke out on stage over the order of speeches, with MP Shafi Parambil expressing open displeasure.
As the yatra attempts to consolidate the party’s base across Malabar amid visible issues within the state Congress leadership, the incident has triggered a controversy.
The reception meeting in Kuttiady was scheduled for 10 am but began only after 11.30am, reportedly due to an unexpectedly large crowd and logistical confusion. Senior leaders including M K Raghavan, MP, Parakkal Abdulla and Adoor Prakash addressed the gathering first. According to Congress sources, Shafi Parambil, the local MP, was expected to speak before yatra captain Satheesan. However, DCC secretary Pramod Kakkatil, who chaired the meeting, invited Satheesan to speak before calling Shafi.
At this point, voices from the audience demanded that Shafi be given an opportunity to speak.
As Pramod moved toward the microphone to invite him, Shafi reportedly stopped him and questioned why he was being called after Satheesan had already been invited.
“Are you calling me only after calling him?” Shafi is said to have asked, leading to a brief exchange on stage that escalated into a minor scuffle and jostling among leaders.
After Satheesan completed his address, Shafi was again invited to speak. Visibly annoyed, he made it clear that he did not intend to deliver a full speech due to the delay. “I am not going to make a speech,” he said. His remark was widely interpreted as a message that Kuttiady and the local leadership there deserved recognition and due importance within the party.
Organisers later clarified that Shafi had earlier conveyed that he did not wish to speak at length because of the delay and had suggested that only key leaders address the gathering. However, sources indicate that insistence from sections of the crowd and leaders that Shafi must speak contributed to the tension.
DCC president K Praveen Kumar denied that there was any serious disagreement or resentment.”When the reception meeting got delayed, Shafi himself said there was no need to call him again,” he said.
Pramod acknowledged some confusion, attributing it to the unexpectedly large turnout. “The understanding is that once the yatra captain speaks, no one else should address the gathering. Senior leader M K Raghavan spoke first, and then Shafi Parambil was supposed to speak. Since it was late, we invited the Leader of the Opposition,” he explained.
Congress leaders insisted that the episode was a result of time constraints and procedural confusion rather than factional tension.