Kerala: Woman Congress leader raises grave allegations against party leadership

A day after a woman Congress leader from Kerala, Simmy Rosebell John, accused Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan of lording over a ‘power group’ in the Congress party, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) expelled her from the party’s primary membership on Sunday, September 1. The KPCC cited her statements “disparaging the women leaders in the party” as reason for her expulsion. 

A senior Congress leader, Simmy began her political career in 1984 with the Kerala Students Union, the student wing of the Congress party in Kerala. She was a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) from 2001 to 2013. From 2006 to 2008, she held the position of secretary of the All India Mahila Congress. She also served as a member of the Kerala Public Service Commission from 2013 to 2019. 

Speaking to TNM, Simmy alleged that some women party workers find it difficult to secure positions in the party despite being senior members. According to her, it is certain leaders who decide who gets which position, leading to her being consistently ignored. 

She named Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan and Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden as two individuals responsible for her being sidelined in the party. 

Simmy said that the Congress party refused to give her any post in the KPCC even though she has expressed her interest to work there. “I lodged several complaints with the KPCC,” she said, adding that a senior Congress leader once told her that he was unable to act without the permission of VD Satheesan and Hibi Eden. 

“VD Satheesan once told a journalist that I was ‘fieldout’. He is mentally torturing me like this. VD Satheesan and Hibi Eden will not allow anyone that they don’t like to occupy positions of power within the party,” she added. 

She alleged that her sidelining from the Mahila Congress was due to a criteria set by VD Satheesan — that only young workers should be office-bearers of the Mahila Congress, removing senior members. “Several senior women leaders left the party, but I am not going anywhere. I will stay at this party and continue my work,” she said. 

TNM reached out to VD Satheesan and Hibi Eden for their reactions. Hibi said that he did not wish to react to the allegations, as they were “not worth it”. 

This copy will be updated if we receive a response from Satheeshan.  

Women leaders who left the party 

Simmy alleged that she is not the only woman leader to face such sidelining. “All my seniors, who were once dedicated party workers, have left the party,” she said. 

She named senior leaders including former MLA Rosakutty teacher; former KPCC general Secretary and MLA Sobhana George; daughter of former Chief Minister K Karunakaran and former KPCC vice president Padmaja Venugopal; Youth Congress leader and former member of the Women’s Commission Shahida Kamal; former AICC member and KPCC executive member Jameela Ibrahim; and former president of Kerala Pradesh Mahila Congress Lathika Subash. 

“From this list, only Rosakutty teacher and Sobhana George became members of the state Assembly. All others were sidelined by the party. Many of them, who felt humiliated, have left the party. Padmaja Venugopal openly stated that Congress didn’t accord any importance to women. Lathika shaved her head while leaving the party as a form of protest,” she said.

Simmy also alleged that party positions are given to workers without any merit. “People like us, who have been working for years, are not given any position. In my entire political career, I haven’t had an opportunity to contest in an Assembly or Lok Sabha election,” she added.