The first time Eldhose Kunnappilly became a trending name was in 2016 after a photograph of him dozing off while the Kerala Assembly was in session became the source for viral memes. The debutant Congress MLA’s snooze during the policy address by then Governor P Sathasivam, captured by TV cameras, even made it to the BBC, which ran a feature on him with the photograph of young VT Balram, another Congress MLA, nudging him to wake up.
That didn't stop him from being elected second time consecutively to the Kerala Assembly in 2021 from the Perumbavoor constituency in Ernakulam, though his victory margin reduced to 2,899 votes. He had won the Perumbavoor seat for the Congress defeating Saju Paul of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) with a margin of 7,088 votes in 2016.
The 44-year-old MLA’s name is trending again not in any comic context but because he is on the run after being booked on charges of assault and abuse based on a complaint by a woman. Eldhose has been booked on a complaint by a woman who has accused him of assaulting her multiple times.
The case has been registered at the Kovalam police station in Thiruvananthapuram under sections 362 (abduction), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 354 (assault or criminal force on woman to outrage her modesty), 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) and 34 (criminal act by several persons with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).The woman told the media that she was beaten up and threatened by him while speaking out against the assault she allegedly faced at his hands.
The Crime Branch on Tuesday, October 18, booked him on the charge of attempt to murder based on the survivor's statement.
Elsdose Kunnappilli had a steady political growth career and enjoyed a minor stardom right from when he was the District Panchayat President of Ernakulam from 2010 to 2015. A popular Congress leader, he is also known for oratory skills and recitals of his poetry and dancing on the stage during functions which have won him admiration and ridicule.
Eldhose has been credited for the many laurels Ernakulam District bagged while he was the District Panchayat President. Ernakulam bagged the Swaraj Trophy of the state government for the best district panchayat in 2016 for the works carried out in the previous year. Ernakulam, during his tenure, also won the ISO certificate for the best district panchayat in the country. The district panchayat was also awarded Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA) for the implementation of innovative development schemes and Nirmal Gram Puraskar for the work done in sanitation.
All the work he did for the development of local self-government bodies in the region gave him the image of a promising young politician. The Congress did not have to think twice when they were looking for an MLA candidate from the region as community equations and electoral prospects favoured Eldhose. But with the MLA now absconding for nearly two weeks, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) is having a tough time answering questions from the public and the media. The political future of Eldhose Kunnappilly seems to be at stake since he chose not to cooperate with law enforcement.