KPCC cracks the whip on indiscipline following late-night fracas between Ramya Haridas and party workers

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Sunday (September 6, 2026) took a resolute stance on organisational discipline after an inquiry committee prima facie found that the late-night affray between Congress legislator Remya Haridas and party workers in Chirayinkeezhu on Friday had inflicted significant reputational damage on the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government.

KPCC president Sunny Joseph suspended Ms.

Haridas’s aide, Palayam Pradeep, and another Congress worker, Sajaad, on the charge of indiscipline and cratering the party’s esteem in full public view.

Mr.

Joseph had cracked the whip based on a preliminary inquiry report submitted by former KPCC president M.M.

Hassan, who recorded the statements of the persons involved in the fracas as head of the three-member inquiry committee.

Earlier, Mr.

Hassan had told The Hindu that the committee would allow representation to the opposing sides involved in the affray.

A Congress insider said Ms.

Haridas had spoken to the committee on the phone and would later turn up in person to give her statement.

Congress MLA Ramya Haridas hospitalised after late-night fracas at party colleague’s house Mr.

Hassan said the committee would also record the statement of Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat member and Youth Congress leader, Sajith Muttapalam, who had questioned the appropriateness of Mr.

Pradeep “pushing a personal agenda” at bloc panchayat plan implementation scheme meetings ostensibly at the behest of Ms Haridas and allegedly without the party’s authorisation.

A KPCC insider said the inquiry committee reportedly found that the incident provided the Left Democratic Front (LDF) a “perfect foil” to deflect public attention from the issues plaguing the Opposition alliance, including the simmering dispute between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and the Communist Party of India (CPI) over the post of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

He also said the committee noted that the fracas, which went viral on social and conventional media, overshadowed the UDF’s flagship “Re-Imagining Kerala” tutorial for Cabinet Ministers, which recently concluded at the Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode (IIM-K).

Speaker’s response When contacted, Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan told The Hindu that his office was entitled to a detailed report about the incident from law enforcement.

However, he stated that his constitutional office and recusal from political responsibilities precluded him from commenting on the incident.

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.