The Congress in Aluva Assembly constituency has demanded the ouster of six-time MLA K. Mohammadali from the primary membership of the party alleging that he tried to scuttle the chances of Anwar Sadath, candidate of the United Democratic Front.
The call for expelling Mr. Mohammadali from the party is the culmination of the serious differences that emerged after the Left Democratic Front decided to field Shelna Nishad, his daughter-in-law as its independent candidate in the election. Mr. Sadath had won the constituency for the third consecutive time after defeating her by a margin of 18,886 votes.
Babu Puthanangadi, the chief election manager of Mr. Sadath, lodged a complaint before the District Congress Committee demanding stringent action against Mr. Mohammadali for not protecting the interests of the party. The former Congress MLA had openly canvassed votes for the Left candidate. He had also told the voters that the Left front would come back to power in the State, according to the complaint.
In his response, Mr. Mohammadali told The Hindu on Tuesday that he was no longer a member of the party after he had severed all ties with the Congress following his electoral defeat in 2006. “The people within the party had stabbed me from the back and I had lost the election to A.M. Yousuf of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) by over 3,000 votes in 2006,” he said.
Stating that the Congress leadership failed to take action against those who worked against him, Mr. Mohammadali alleged that the detractors were rewarded by giving them party positions. “Groupism has resulted in the pathetic state of affairs in the Congress today. A few in the State leadership had packed the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee with those loyal to them,” he said.
On supporting the candidature of his daughter-in-law, Mr. Mohammadali pointed out that he had not participated in any meetings or public rallies in support of Ms. Nishad. “However, I had sent out personal requests to support her,” he said.
