Last week witnessed the death, allegedly by suicide, by a local Congress leader Jose Nelledam in Mullankolly. This was followed by an alleged suicide attempt by Padmaja, the daughter-in-law of former District Congress Committee(DCC) treasurer N. M. Vijayan. Padmaja attempted suicide a few hours after she told the media that the party had promised financial assistance to cover the substantial debts her father-in-law had incurred to protect the interests of other party leaders. Incidentally, Vijayan and his son Jijesh had allegedly attempted suicide on December 25 last year and died two days later.

A grief-stricken Padmaja released two audio clips, which she claimed, were that of senior Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan. Thiruvanchoor, incidentally, headed the committee set up by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) to probe the circumstances leading to Vijayan’s death. In the audio clip, Thiruvanchoor allegedly criticized the party leadership for its failure to keep the promises made to Vijayan’s family.

The issue is set to escalate tension in the party with Padmaja threatening to begin a hunger strike in front of the KPCC office demanding justice . She has also hinted at raising the issue with the Chief Minister. The party leadership has, however, denied her claim of having reached an agreement with Vijayan’s family. The extent to which factionalism has struck roots in the party is clear from the diametrically opposite stands taken by KPCC president Sunny Joseph and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) V. D. Satheesan on the issue.

While Joseph denies having reached any agreement, Satheesan replied in the affirmative when asked about the ‘agreement’ with Vijayan’s family. Joseph also claimed that the party had done all it could for the family but expressed his inability to meet all its demands. Senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala has demanded that the serious issue should be resolved at the earliest.

To add to the embarrassment of the Congress party, a video which surfaced after the death of Jose Nelledam alleged that he was being targeted with false allegations in connection with the arrest of another party leader Kanattumalayil Thankachan, from whose house liquor and explosives were allegedly seized. Thankachan was subsequently released when it was discovered that the contraband had been planted by another party worker!

The sordid episode has, understandably, cast a shadow over the visit to Wayanad by its MP, Priyanka Gandhi. The visit was aimed at firming up unity in the party. But the suicides issue has obviously put the Congress on the backfoot, with the local leadership facing flak for its dismal failure to resolve the crisis.

What has added to the worries of the Congress is the reported visit by CPI(M) State Secretariat member M. V. Jayarajan to Vijayan’s house. The CPI(M) has termed the Congress undemocratic, saying that the broken promises exposed a leadership steeped in scandal and conflict.

Another issue which has deepened the crisis in Congress is the Rahul Mamkootathil episode, which has shaken the party to its core. Rahul has been suspended from the party. He has also been removed from the primary membership of the Congress following allegations of sexual misconduct against him. The party is sharply divided over the issue with the pro-Rahul faction bent upon supporting him and the rival faction strongly opposing any attempt to bring him back to the party.

Adding to the confusion, Rahul attended the Assembly session which began on Monday, his suspension from the Congress notwithstanding. Rahul claimed that though he has been removed from the party’s primary membership and suspended, he remained committed to the party. If he really meant what he said, he should have stayed away from the Assembly. The Congress feared that his presence on the floor of the Assembly would only give a powerful issue to the LDF to grill the Congress. And that is exactly what happened.

The suicides issue has badly dented the Congress’s image and credibility. With the local bodies election this year and the crucial Assembly polls early next year, the party will be hard put to explain the suicides by party leaders. It may be mentioned that the top party leadership in the State has failed to take strong action against Rahul as he has threatened to expose the sexual misconduct allegations against a few senior party leaders. The entire issue has put the Congress leadership on the horns of a dilemma. The party is damned if it takes action; and damned if it fails to act against the Palakkad MLA. How the Congress unties the knot remains to be seen. (IPA Service)