The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has expelled prominent Congress leader Simi Rosebell John from the party due to her remarks against the party leadership. She recently alleged that female Congress leaders need ‘sponsorship’ to rise to the top ranks. She alleged that there was casting couch that was prevalent within the Congress party. In response, members of KPCC’s Political Affairs Committee, women office bearers of the KPCC, and the Mahila Congress president reportedly requested the party leadership to take disciplinary action against Simi, a former AICC (All India Congress Committee) member. They submitted their request in a joint complaint.
KPCC’s press statement says that prima facie, the party sees a serious violation of party discipline in Simi’s statement. Party leadership alleged that Simi’s charge against the party carried an objective to defame and mentally harass lakhs of women party workers and leaders.
Reacting to the action against her, Simi said that women of dignity and pride cannot work in the Congress party. She told media persons that if party leadership has any evidence to substantiate their allegations against her, they should release them. She said they had expelled her, who had worked for the party for a long time.
Simi said that if part of the leadership thinks that she had conspired with CPM, they should disclose the evidence for it. Simi had alleged that those who are not in the good books of the leaders like VD Satheesan (LoP) are sidelined. She said, she was sidelined like this owing to the objections raised by Satheeshan and Hibi Eden MP.
The ruling CPM ridiculed Congress, stating that a ’power group’ exists in the grand old party. The sarcasm is due to the latest developments taking place in Malayalam filmdom. After the Hema Committee report was released, several Malayalam actresses filed allegations against the senior leaders. They have alleged that they had to undergo sexual abuse to get chances in the movies and even to get a membership of the Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (AMMA). Some of them had even alleged that a 15-member ‘Power Group’ is active in the Malayalam film industry, and they control the entire industry. They had even alleged a ‘casting couch’ in the industry.
Whether Simi’s revelation and her subsequent expulsion will significantly alter the power dynamics in Congress politics remains to be seen, but there is no doubt that it has shaken the Congress in Kerala.
Simi started her political career as a leader of KSU, the student wing of Congress. She was a confidant of K. Karunakaran, a Congress veteran and four-time Chief Minister. She had held several party positions, but, during the last few years, after the demise of Karunakaran, she is not visible in Congress programmes. Observers believe that Simi’s revelation is only a beginning.
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