A war of words has erupted between the Youth Congress leadership and veteran Congress leader P.J. Kurien following his public criticism of the outfit’s diminished presence in protest movements.
Speaking at a party event in Pathanamthitta the other day, Mr. Kurien, a member of the Congress’ Political Affairs Committee, lauded the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) under the CPI(M), for aligning itself with ‘the disaffected youth.’ In contrast, the Youth Congress leaders are visible only on television and are absent from ground-level struggles, he said.
“Who you parade on stages does not count, if you can’t even gather 25 youngsters on the ground in a constituency,” Mr. Kurien said, referring to Youth Congress State president and MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, who was present at the event.
A rebuttal
Responding to the remarks, Mr. Mamkootathil said he accepted the criticism with grace but offered a pointed rebuttal. “Youth Congress members may be fewer at family gatherings, but that’s not the case when it comes to street protests,” he said.
His response was followed by a wave of strong reactions from Youth Congress leaders on social media. On his own Facebook page, Mr. Mamkootathil posted on Sunday, “Let those with eyes see and those with ears hear,” sharing a video of Youth Congress workers in Pathanamthitta, including its district president, being taken into preventive custody by the police ahead of Health Minister Veena George’s visit to Aranmula.
Jithin G. Ninan, general secretary of the Youth Congress in Pathanamthitta, also took to social media to express his displeasure. “From now on, I will not refer to him as ‘Kurien sir’,” he wrote. “The Youth Congress has been consistently protesting for the past nine years. Many of our leaders have faced police brutality and imprisonment. We cannot accept criticism from someone like Mr. Kurien, who hasn’t even endured a police shove.”
‘Mentor youth first’
A few other members also invoked past controversies involving Mr. Kurien. In a veiled reference to old allegations, some leaders suggested Youth Congress activists are not the ones appearing on television in abuse cases.
Others criticised Mr. Kurien’s inability to foster grassroots leadership. “He has not been able to appoint even a mandalam president in his own village, Puramattom,” one social media post pointed out. Several Youth Congress supporters ridiculed the veteran leader online, suggesting he should focus on mentoring even a single young party worker before casting judgment.
Published – July 13, 2025 07:40 pm IST
