2 september 2024 : Former Congress party and PSC member Simi Rose Bell John, who was expelled on Sunday following her “women leaders need sponsorship from party leaders to rise in the ranks” remark, said that women with self-respect cannot work in the grand old party. According to her, the only mistake she made was to become the voice of women in the Congress party.
“In this party, women with self-respect won’t be able to work. I was also expelled from the party…the only mistake I made was I became the voice of the women here,” John told the media while responding to her expulsion.
The former Congress leader further informed that the state President of Mahila Congress, Lathika Subash, was also expelled from the party for “sharing her pain”.
“Recently a person who worked for this party for long time was expelled, the reason was that his person conspired with CPI(M) but there is no evidence, if they have it, they should make it public. The state President of Mahila Congress Lathika Subash has shared her pain with me…she was also expelled. You can guess the reason. K Karunakaran’s daughter Padmaja Venugopal was also insulted and expelled, she even posted about it,” she said
On allegations that John “conspired” with the CPI(M), she said, “If I did, they should prove it. They tried to stomp upon a helpless widow like me…VD Satheesan is not scared of anyone…so many people who were with me are in different posts now. I feel now scared to walk on the road, anything can happen to me.”
Former Congress leader expelled
John was expelled from Congress on Sunday for her alleged “derogatory” remarks against women Congress leaders during an interview with a private TV channel. She also alleged that she was denied certain opportunities in the party due to the objections of leaders like Satheesan and Hibi Eden.
In a statement, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) General Secretary M Liju, said that John’s accusations were aimed at “mentally harassing” and “defaming” lakhs of women leaders and workers in the Congress, allegedly in “collusion with political adversaries”.
“Women leaders from the KPCC Political Affairs Committee, KPCC office bearers, and Mahila Congress State President, among others, had jointly requested the KPCC leadership to take action against her…The party is convinced that John’s actions constituted a serious breach of discipline,” the KPCC further said.