The Indian National League (INL), a constituent of the ruling Left Democratic Front, suffered a split on Sunday, July 25, following weeks of internal feuding. The split also comes after a fight broke out between two factions of the INL in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
The faction headed by INL state president AP Abdul Wahab expelled general secretary Kasim Irikkoor, who leads the rival group. Irikkoor in turn hit back by removing Wahab from the president’s post and expelling seven secretariat members belonging to his group. The party's lone nominee in the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government, Ahammad Devarkovil, is in Irikkoor faction.
Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, Kasim Irikkoor announced working president B Hamsa Haji as the party's new state president. Irikkoor claimed that his faction enjoys the full support of the INL national leadership. Both factions had held parallel meetings of their supporters before announcing their decisions. The Wahab faction alleged that Irikkoor was acting as an agent of the IUML (Indian Union Muslim League) and his intention was to create trouble for the LDF government to help the opposition in the state. Irikkoor said INL had been with the LDF since its formation in 1994 and there will be no change in its position.
Earlier in the day, supporters of the two warring factions came to blows in the presence of its leaders. A scuffle broke out in front of a hotel here after a section of INL leaders led by Wahab boycotted the party's working committee meeting alleging anti-democratic actions by Irikkoor.
In the previous meeting, Irikkoor had allegedly mentioned in the minutes that two senior leaders had been expelled from the party. Provoked by it, the Wahab faction raised this issue in Sunday's meeting and it triggered a war of words between the two groups following which the faction led by Wahab walked out.
The police reached the spot in large numbers and used force to disperse the supporters of the groups fighting outside the hotel. Amid the melee, Ahammad Devarkovil, the Minister for Ports, was escorted out of the hotel where the working committee meeting was held allegedly violating COVID-19 protocols.
Dismissing allegations, party leaders claimed that the meeting was organised adhering to COVID-19 protocols.
The Indian National League was formed in 1994 after a split in the Indian Union Muslim League.
The party, a member of the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front, was given a ministerial berth for the first time in the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government after the front's emphatic win in the Assembly polls held in April this year.
(With PTI input)