Congress grappling with internal frictions in Thiruvambady Assembly segment

The Kozhikode District Congress Committee (DCC) is apparently grappling with internal frictions within its ‘mandalam’ committees that are part of the Thiruvambady Assembly constituency, even as rumours are rife about the party’s plan to take over the seat from its ally, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), in the upcoming polls.

The Thiruvambady constituency is part of the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat represented by senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

According to local sources, the DCC froze the appointment of Haridasan Parappil as president of the Kodiyathur ‘mandalam’ committee on February 13, just four days after he was elevated to the post. The sources said the district leadership was forced to act after a section of local leaders objected to the appointment.

Similarly, the DCC had to freeze the constitution of the 47-member Karassery ‘mandalam’ committee led by Saman Chalooli on February 2, just two days after it was formed. These ‘mandalam’ committees are part of the Mukkom block committee of the party.

In Kodiyathur, Mr. Parappil was appointed as president, as the incumbent Suja Tom got elected to the local grama panchayat in the recent elections. At present, DCC executive member M.T. Ashraf has been given charge of the ‘mandalam’ committee. In Karassery, Mr. Chalooli was appointed to the post of president following the strong demand from ward-level committees. However, the DCC had to freeze the committee while retaining him in the post following internal protests.

Mr. Chalooli, who had held the post of ‘mandalam’ president earlier as well, was asked to resign after differences of opinion emerged between him and the then senior leader N.K. Abdurahiman, chairman of the Karassery Service Cooperative Bank, which is controlled by the Congress. It was alleged that Mr. Chalooli opposed Mr. Abdurahiman’s move to take away some chairs from an office building of the party. The incident had happened during the campaigning for the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll in November 2024. However, Mr. Abdurahiman was expelled from the Congress in December 2025 after local party leaders accused him of “attempting to sell” the Karassery bank to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]. Following this, the local leaders demanded that Mr. Chalooli be reinstated to the post.

According to a section of leaders, the ‘A’ group within the party enjoys wide support in the region. However, the DCC and one of the functionaries of the Mukkom block committee reportedly tried to appoint leaders belonging to the ‘I’ group in key posts. This is cited as the main reason for the internal frictions. Earlier, leaders from the ‘A’ group had held the post of presidents in all ‘mandalam’ committees in the Mukkom block committee.

The Thiruvambady Assembly segment has been represented by CPI(M) nominees since 2016. A section within the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) is reportedly of the opinion that the party needs to take over the seat from the IUML in exchange for some other constituency. There are reports that the party may consider Malappuram District Congress Committee president V.S. Joy as a probable candidate here.