KPCC suspends member from Kozhikode

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has suspended KV Subrahmanian, KPCC Chevayur block committee member, from the main membership of the Congress, accusing him of creating an embarrassing and disgraceful situation for the party during the Lok Sabha election campaign.

This reportedly follows complaints by MK Raghavan, United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate from the Kozhikode Lok Sabha segment, to the KPCC leadership that Mr Subrahmanian was working against him in the run-up to the election. Mr Raghavan also reportedly claimed during a party review meeting that Mr Subrahmanian had tried to encourage factionalism within the party. According to reports, the District Congress Committee (DCC) has also initiated action against him.

This comes in the backdrop of differences between officials of a UDF-run local services cooperative bank in Chevayur and the district leadership of the Congress. Shortly before the election, Mr. Subrahmanian held a press conference along with a bank official who had previously been suspended from the party and declared that he was resigning from all party positions. The KPCC has now accepted Mr Subrahmanian’s resignation.

However, Mr Subrahmanian told the media on Saturday that he was under “house arrest” and would not be allowed to work for the party during the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress leader also claimed that he never worked against Mr. Raghavan.