Kochi: The Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday expelled a legislator each on Thursday for different reasons.
The grand old part revoked the primary membership of rape-accused MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, whose anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a Kerala court earlier in the day, reported PTI.
Mamkootathil, the MLA from Palakkad, had already been suspended by the KPCC in August after several women accused him of sexual misconduct.
According to KPCC president Sunny Joseph, the party reviewed the allegations against him and decided that Mankootathil could not continue in the organisation.
“We had sought the approval of the AICC (All India Congress Committee)… AICC has approved. Rahul Mamkootathil stands expelled from the Congress party,” Joseph said a statement.
Allegations against Mamkootathil surfaced after actor Rini Ann George accused a “young prominent politician” of sending her obscene messages and inviting her to a hotel room.
Though Mamkootathil was not named, BJP and CPI(M) leaders alleged that the actress was referring to the Congress legislator.
Many other women then came out with similar allegations. An audio clip went viral in which the MLA was purportedly heard asking a woman to abort the baby she was carrying, followed by a threat to kill her.
Action against Humayun Kabir for ‘communal politics’
In West Bengal, the ruling TMC took action against its Bharatpur MLA Humayun Kabir, who had triggered a controversy by saying that he would lay the foundation stone of a Babri Masjid replica in Murshidabad district.
“We don’t believe in communal politics. Kabir was warned thrice in the past by the party’s disciplinary committee. But now he has again done this. With the consent of the party’s chairperson and the national general secretary, the party is suspending him. He will have no relation with the party,” Kolkata’s mayor and state minister Firhad Hakim said at a press conference.
“Kabir is a resident of Rejinagar and MLA of Bharatpur. Then why is he planning to build a masjid in Beldanga? It is because Beldanga is communally sensitive, and it would be easier to trigger a riot. This would help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the elections,” claimed Hakim, referring to Assembly polls due in West Bengal around May 2026.
Kabir, who had announced he would lay the foundation stone of a Babri Masjid replica on December 6, said today he’ll fulfil that promise and also launch his party later this month.
Kabir, who had gone to attend chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s rallt at Berhampore in Murshidabad, left midway after receiving the news of his suspension.
“I welcome the decision. This is a trivial matter as I wasn’t holding any post. They had suspended me earlier too. I will resign from the party tomorrow itself and launch my own political party on December 12. The TMC will have to pay for this getting ousted from power. The foundation stone will be laid on December 6. I will fight both with the BJP and the TMC in the coming election,” Kabir said.
