The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has sought to put the Youth Congress in Kerala back on track by nominating O.J. Jinesh and Binu Chulliyil as president and working president respectively.
Palakkad legislator Rahul Mamkootathil’s resignation as Youth Congress State president, following accusations of serial sexual misconduct, had arguably landed the organisation in limbo.
Moreover, Mr. Mamkootathil’s resignation came at a time when various scandals, including alleged voter ID fraud in online organisational elections, alleged non-utilisation of funds collected for Wayanad relief, individual leaders’ “focus” on self-promotional social media posts and reels, lack of boots on the ground for political campaigns, organisational weakness, financial shenanigans, and purported internal feuding “bedevilled” the Opposition youth organisation.
Mr. Mamkootathil’s resignation had also precipitated a leadership vacuum and, to some extent, rendered the Youth Congress rudderless. It also burdened the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee with the onerous task of ensuring that the Youth Congress did not become organisationally sclerotic in the nearly three-month hiatus.
Moreover, the delay in naming Mr. Mamkootathil’s successor allegedly triggered a muted competition for the Youth Congress State presidentship, with different factions in the KPCC lobbying behind the curtains for their respective loyalists.
A Congress insider said religion and caste accommodations, along with merit and leadership qualities, informed the AICC’s decision. He stated that the AICC had ensured representation of backward classes and minorities to pre-empt any accusation of bias in selection to top Youth Congress organisational posts.
He added that the AICC, at a stroke, also ruled out any potential rebellion in the Youth Congress by elevating several other aspirants to national leadership positions.
The AICC has nominated Abin Varkey and K.M. Abhijith, both considered eligible to replace Mr. Mamkootathil as State Youth Congress president, as national secretaries of the Indian Youth Congress.
The AICC nominations, supposedly delayed by Rahul Gandhi’s “Vote Chori” campaign in Bihar and subsequent seat-sharing talks in the INDIA bloc, are aimed at ending the alleged bickering and the supposed lack of consensus in the KPCC leadership over the selection of Youth Congress State president.
Mr. Jinesh takes over as the Youth Ccongress State president in the short run-up to the local body elections and the Assembly polls in 2026. Moreover, the Congress is in the thick of its anti-government campaigns concerning the Sabarimala gold scam, police highhandedness against party workers, among other issues.
Published – October 13, 2025 10:04 pm IST
