Abdullakutty, who served as MLA of the Congress from Kasaragod, and also two-term MP of the CPI(M), was expelled from the Congress after his reply to the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee’s notice seeking his clarification on his praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was deemed not satisfactory. Mr. Abdullakutty, who had joined the Congress after he was expelled from the CPI(M) in 2009, had replied that he chose to stick to his observation in his Facebook post.
In his response following his expulsion from the Congress, Mr. Abdullakutty said that he had not yet decided on his future course of action, though politics was the only field he was familiar with. He also said that he had always taken a firm stand on development, faith, political violence and hartal. He said he had been earlier expelled from the CPI(M) for talking about the ‘Gujarat model’ of development. He said that he had not praised Mr. Modi personally, he said, adding that he had not supported Mr. Modi on anything other than development.
His post said that the secret of what made Mr. Modi popular is a ‘Gandhian principle’ that he (Mr. Modi) accurately carried out. He also wrote in the post that under the Swachh Bharat scheme, 9.16 crore families were given own toilets and six crore families were given free LPG connection under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. The Congress circles here said that disciplinary action against Mr. Abdullakutty was a foregone conclusion as his “Modi admiration” was a clear signal that he was looking for opportunities in the BJP.
Stating that the Congress would in future understand what he had said, Mr. Abdullakutty said it was unfortunate and saddening that the Congress leadership was not prepared to listen to the criticism of party workers even after the huge electoral defeat the party had suffered in the general election. He also said that there would never return to the Congress.
