Laly James’ suspension exposes rift in Thrissur Congress

The Congress party’s return to power in the Thrissur Corporation after a decade was marred on the first day by bitter infighting, explosive allegations, and the suspension of senior councillor Laly James, exposing deep cracks within the district party unit.

What should have been a moment of pride and celebration for party workers quickly descended into a public slugfest of allegations and counter-allegations. The controversy erupted when Ms. James, a four-time Congress councillor, alleged that she was sidelined from mayoral consideration because she was unable to provide money allegedly demanded by party leaders.

She alleged that newly elected Mayor Niji Justin, along with her husband, had met multiple leaders carrying a “box”, though she said she did not know what the box contained. According to Ms. James, the District Congress Committee (DCC) president himself called her and said money was needed for the system to move forward, claiming it was for the party.

She launched a sharp attack on  All India Congress Committee general secretaries K.C. Venugopal and Deepa Das Munshi, questioning their understanding of Thrissur politics and accusing them of insulting grassroots level workers by deciding the mayoral candidate from above. Ms. James also warned that if disciplinary action was taken against her, she had her own ways to “teach discipline” to those imposing it.

Responding to the allegations, DCC president Joseph Tajet dismissed the claims and challenged Ms. James to clarify whether she had ever “given a box” during her four terms as councillor. “I have never asked anyone for money. You can check the CCTV footage from my office and home to know the truth,” Mr. Tajet said.

He added that the three councillors shortlisted for Mayor post, including Ms. James, were informed that each would get a chance as Mayor on a rotational basis, and that only Dr. Justin’s name was announced initially because the core committee had not yet decided the tenure.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leaders privately admitted that the crisis escalated due to failures at the district leadership level. They said confusion arose because only Dr. Justin’s name as first-term Mayor was announced, allegedly based on the DCC president’s unilateral decision, creating confusion within the party.

Despite her suspension, Ms. James reiterated that she stands firmly by her allegations and insists she will remain a Congress worker till her last breath. She said she learned about the disciplinary action through media reports and accused the DCC president of acting without maturity. Ms. James claimed the leadership hastily branded her statements as emotional and imposed suspension without issuing a show-cause notice or giving her a chance to be heard.

She ruled out joining either the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or the Bharatiya Janata Party and said she would not approach the AICC or the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, alleging both were aligned with those she accused of acting against her. She again alleged that Dr. Justin may have paid party funds, which could have influenced the mayoral decision, while maintaining that she had done nothing to harm the party.

The Congress leadership, however, said Ms. James’ suspension followed an urgent inquiry by the DCC into allegations that had pushed the party into a crisis. The KPCC announced the suspension through a press release without specifying its duration.