KPCC poised to take tough line on discipline, without closing door on reconciliation between opposing parties, in fracas involving MLA Haridas

Ramya Haridas . File image: Special Arrangement

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) appeared poised on Sunday (September 6, 2026) to take a tougher stance on organisational discipline, as the late-night affray between Congress legislator Ramya Haridas and party workers in Chiryankeezhu on Friday (September 4, 2026) seemed to have inflicted significant reputational damage on the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government.

Former KPCC president, M.M. Hassan, head of the three-member commission probing the incident, told The Hindu that he has summoned the “concerned parties for a preliminary hearing at the party’s State headquarters at Indira Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram. Mr Hassan said the committee would allow full representation to people involved in the incident. He said fairness and impartiality would govern the enquiry process.

The episode had also brought to the fore larger questions regarding the conduct and responsibilities of MLAs that come with parliamentary privilege. Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, who formerly headed the KPCC’s discplinary committee, told The Hindu that he was mindful of the issues at play.

However, Mr Radhakrishnan said his Constitutional office and recusal from his earlier political responsibilities precluded him from commenting on the incident, lest it prejudice the legal and political process underway. However, Mr Radhakrishnan said the Speaker’s Office was entitled to a detailed report about the incident from law enforcement.

An official attached to the former Speaker, A.N. Shamsheer’s office, said the Chair could potentially refer such incidents to the Kerala Assembly’s Privileges Committee. He said assaulting an MLA while discharging the person’s democratic duties in their respective constituencies or outside was, inherently, a significant breach of privilege and a contempt of the House.

Nevertheless, the official said that the law, reinforced by several Supreme Court judgments, held that the police did not need the Speaker’s prior consent to register an FIR or prosecute an MLA on criminal charges.

A Congress insider said that Mr Hassan’s enquiry commission seemed poised to walk a tightrope between sparing the rod and risking more such intra-party strife, and recommending stringent action against the party persons involved in the affray, including Ms Haridas, who is a KPCC vice-president and member of the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC).

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“The enquiry commission could ill afford to lose sight of the wider implications of the case, including the organisational and political impact. For one, party workers could construe organisational inaction as an open charter for resorting to violence and personal attacks to settle intra-party disputes. The commission seemed mindful that organisational matters had come to a precarious head recently when the KPCC was constrained to dismiss a District Congress (DCC) member for threatening Chief Minister V D Satheesan after stopping his motorcade on a main thoroughfare,” he said.

However, the party person said the enquiry commission had the latitude to weigh the organisational record of the party workers involved in the conflict, their seniority, and any expressions of contrition to mitigate the potentially punitive process and strive for rapprochement based on consensus.