T H Mustafa T H Mustafa

T.H. Mustafa, a senior Congress leader in Kerala who called party vice-president Rahul Gandhi a joker, has welcomed his suspension, saying he is now free to say anything he wanted.

"I welcome the decision to suspend me. I'm relieved. Now I can air my comments without fearing anything and anyone. I was only telling the truth. Nobody can control me now," Mustafa, a former state minister, told Kairali People TV, a CPM-owned channel, on Thursday night.

Mustafa had taken the jibe at Rahul Gandhi at a press meet in Kochi on Wednesday. He also demanded that Rahul Gandhi be sacked as party vice-president and replaced by his sister Priyanka Gandhi.

A Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee executive meeting in Thiruvanthapuram too criticised the party high command and Rahul Gandhi.

Most of the leaders expressed discontent over the functioning of the leadership.

Congress leader K. Sudhakaran criticised Rahul Gandhi and said state leaders should show the courage to say that the "king is indeed naked".

"It is not young age that matters. We needed policies and programmes to attract youngsters. A 63-year-old Narendra Modi was able to frame policies that wooed them," said Sudhakaran, who was defeated by a CPI-M candidate in Kannur.

Even Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the debacle of the party was a result of anti-people policies of the UPA government.

Kozhikode District Congress Committee president K.C. Abu also made a veiled attack at Rahul Gandhi, comparing the high command's performance to a role enacted by Dulquer Salman even though it was more suited for his father, Mammotty.

Some other leaders from the Malabar region said Rahul Gandhi had miserably failed in taking on Modi.

AICC spokesperson P.C. Chacko said he was compelled by the leadership to contest the elections.

Chacko was blamed by state leaders for exchanging his constituency, Thrissur, for Chalakkudy resulting in the party's defeat in both the seats.

T. Siddique, who was defeated in Kasergod, also criticised the central leadership for its follies.

The KPCC decided to form committees to study the debacle of some candidates.

But the comments in the KPCC meeting show that state leaders have shed their fears about criticising the party high command.