Food distributed in newspapers that reported his resignation, Congress MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil faces a bitter dig from CPI(M)’s youth wing

The day after his resignation, the DYFI, the CPI(M)’s youth wing, packed their daily “pothichoru” — food parcels that the group distributes to patients and bystanders at 61 government hospitals across Kerala — with newspaper pages on which Mamkoottathil’s resignation news was printed.

In 2023, Mamkoottathil had alleged that the DYFI was engaged in illegal activities under the cover of distributing the food parcels. He had also taken strong exception to leaders of his own party praising the DYFI initiative, which completed eight years in 2024.

DYFI state president V Vaseef said the decision to cover the food packets with these newspaper pages was a spontaneous one. “Our cadres took a spontaneous decision and covered the pothichoru on Friday with various newspapers that carried the Youth Congress president’s resignation,” he said.

Currently, the DYFI distributes 40,000 to 50,000 food parcels in 61 government hospitals, including government medical colleges, where people queue up for the parcels day after day. The food packets are prepared at homes on a rotational basis, and DYFI cadres collect the packets and distribute them to the designated hospitals.

While the CPI(M) has called for Mamkoottathil’s resignation as an MLA, those who support him cite CPI(M) legislator M Mukesh’s continued role as MLA even after he was charged in an alleged rape case that emerged in the wake of the Hema committee report last year. They also argue that there have been no police complaints against Mamkoottathil.