The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has backtracked from initiating disciplinary action against its general secretary Aryadan Shoukath for anti-party activity.
It accepted Mr. Shoukath’s apology for violating party diktat by organising a “mutinous factional rally” in Malappuram under the “pretext” of mobilising public support for the Palestine cause on November 3.
At a stroke, the KPCC seemed to have put paid to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) ‘s gambit to “champion Mr. Shoukath” by declaring the LDF would “protect him” if the Congress penalised the leader for supporting the Palestine cause.
The KPCC perceived the CPI(M)‘s “unconditional support” for Mr. Shoukath as part of its bid to isolate the Congress in the UDF over the highly emotive Palestine issue, erode the party’s political standing among minorities, especially in North Kerala, and, in the process, draw the IUML closer to the LDF’s sphere of influence.
Mr. Shoukath’s “insurrectionist mustering of loyalists” in November had raised the KPCC leadership’s hackles.
The KPCC’s disciplinary committee, chaired by Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, MLA, deemed the meeting a “parallel political activity” . It did not have the imprimatur of the District Congress Committee (DCC).
The DCC in Malappuram had organised a public rally to voice solidarity with the Palestine cause earlier on October 30.
KPCC president K. Sudhakaran and Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan reportedly told Mr. Shoukath that another rally, organised under the banner of a charitable trust founded in the name of his late father and Congress veteran Aryadan Mohammad, was superfluous.
The committee found that Mr. Shoukath had gone ahead with the rally, ignoring their requests to desist from the “mutinous act”.
The KPCC took a severe view of Mr. Shoukath’s action, given the almost personality cult-oriented factionalism in the Congress in Malappuram.
In the run-up to the rally, persons alleged to be Mr. Shoukath’s supporters had publicly rebelled against the DCC leadership.
The KPCC also found that Mr. Shoukath had used the foundation in his late father’s name to build a parallel and personally loyal quasi-political outfit as a counterweight to the Congress in the district.
The KPCC frowned on the foundation-forming bloc and mandalam committees mimicking the Congress’s organisational structure in the district.
The KPCC also lifted the ban on Mr. Shoukath from attending party programmes.
