Expelled Cong MLA Rahul Mamkootathil rules out independent run from Palakkad

Palakkad (Kerala), March 9
Expelled Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil has said he will not contest the Palakkad Assembly constituency as an independent candidate in the upcoming Assembly polls in Kerala, even as speculation intensifies over his political future amid multiple legal battles.

Responding to questions from party workers about whether he would enter the fray independently, Rahul said he felt encouraged by the support but made it clear that he would not contest without the party’s backing. “It was the party that asked me to contest earlier. If the party asks me to contest again, I will do so; if the party says no, I will not,” he said.

After remaining largely away from public life, Rahul has started visiting the constituency, signalling a tentative return to political activity. During his recent visit to Palakkad, he handed over the keys of houses constructed under his leadership to local beneficiaries.

Significantly, this was his first visit to the constituency after being arrested in connection with the third rape case registered against him.

On January 11, the Special Investigation Team arrested Rahul as part of its probe into the case.

Rahul’s political journey has seen a dramatic rise and fall within a short span of time.

Ahead of the 2024 Palakkad Assembly by-election, he was the dapper Youth Congress president and a favourite of television studios, widely seen as one of the emerging faces of the Congress party in Kerala.

Despite not being a native of Palakkad, the party leadership fielded him in the bypoll. He hails from Kerala's Pathanamthitta district.

From the very start of the campaign, the response to his candidature was overwhelming.

When the votes were counted, Rahul secured a stunning victory margin of over 18,000 votes, a significant jump from the less than 4,000 vote margin with which Shafi Parambil had defeated ‘Metroman’ E. Sreedharan in the 2021 Assembly elections.

Meanwhile, the complainant in the first rape case has approached the Supreme Court seeking the cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to Rahul by the Kerala High Court. The petition alleges that complaints involving sexual assault of nearly ten individuals, including a minor, have been raised against him.

The petitioner argues that the grant of anticipatory bail was legally untenable and should be revoked.

Rahul is now fighting three separate rape cases