SFI steps up protest against Kerala legislator Rahul Mamkootathil, blocks his car outside MLA quarters

The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) signalled on Monday (September 15, 2025) that it would ratchet up its continuing street agitation against Congress legislator Rahul Mamkootathil, who is facing accusations of sexual misconduct.

A group of SFI workers blocked Mr. Mamkootathil’s car as it proceeded from the MLA quarters to the Kerala Legislative Assembly complex.

The activists mobbed Mr. Mamkootathil and sat on the road in front of the vehicle, shouting slogans, demanding his resignation as Palakkad legislator.

The police arrested and removed the protesters from the spot, clearing the way for Mr. Mamkootathil’s vehicle. 

Later, speaking to reporters inside the Assembly gates, Mr. Mamkootathil pointedly refused to take questions regarding the veracity of the audio clips implicating him in a case concerning coercion and life threat to illegally terminate pregnancy.

He also declined to comment on the veracity of the allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him that had surfaced in the public domain, despite persistent questioning by journalists.

‘Victim of political witch-hunt by LDF’

Instead, Mr. Mamkootathil suggested that he was “a victim of a political witch-hunt” launched by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.

“Be sure that the Kerala Police Crime Branch, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s trusted agency, will leave no stone unturned and go to great lengths to implicate me. I have faced arrests and endured prison as a Congress worker since the age of 18 and remain unfazed”, he said. 

Mr. Mamkootathil denied that he had dared the Congress’ writ by attending the Assembly. “The KPCC has suspended me from the party’s primary membership. The Congress Legislative Party (CLP) has debarred me temporarily from its rolls. It does not entail that I am no longer a Congress worker. I remain subservient to the party”, he said. 

Mr. Mamkootathil rejected media reports that senior leaders had rejected his appeals to meet them. “The media are free to draw their inferences. I have not made any attempt to meet any leader in a personal capacity. I am an obedient Congress worker. I know my limitations as a Congress worker currently under suspension from the party’s primary membership”, he added. 

The Palakkad legislator, however, dropped no hint whether he would continue to attend the Assembly or visit his constituency. 

Mr. Mamkoothail used the impromptu press conference to signal to Youth Congress workers, including those on social media, to keep up their “good fight against the Pinarayi government”. He also highlighted instances of police brutality that emerged in the public domain.

Mr. Mamkootathil expressed solidarity with Kerala Students Union (KSU) workers protesting against the arrest and handcuffing of fellow workers by the State police in Thrissur. “Fight on,” he said.