"I Lost My Mother to Congress's Vicious Internal Rivalries" — Rajmohan Unnithan

MP Rajmohan Unnithan has made a deeply personal and explosive revelation, stating that he lost his mother as a direct consequence of the bitter internal feuds within the Congress party. In an interview given to Mathrubhumi, Unnithan launched a scathing attack on K. Karunakaran and A.K. Antony, drawing a painful parallel — just as his father was crushed and humiliated by the party, his mother too was consumed by its ruthless politics. "That moment is one I can never forget as long as I live," he said, adding that losing his mother was the tragic result of vile politics and vindictive factional warfare.

In his own words, Unnithan recounted the events that led to that devastating day:

"The Kayamkulam seat was alloted for me. Karunakaran told me in the Assembly — don't contest from Kayamkulam. Kayamkulam belongs to the A-group, it's a seat they have always fought for. I'll give you the neighbouring seat — Ambalappuzha. That's our seat, and you will win from there. He gave me that seat. After all, I had been with him since 1978 — I was someone built up by Panicker, essentially for Ghulam Nabi Azad. Azad had the charge of Kerala at the time. The KPCC President then was Murali. Chacko, Murali and I were all very close during that period.

Then came the candidate list in 2001, and I was given the Kayamkulam seat. The decision was finalised. There was a press conference scheduled for five o'clock. Ghulam Nabi called me, showed me the entire list — Kayamkulam was mine.

I then invited K. Muralidharan and P.C. Chacko for lunch. That's when I received a call from 10 Janpath — they said I was needed there urgently. Under pressure from Chacko and Murali, I drove there. When I arrived at 10 Janpath, Ghulam Nabi Azad held me close like a child and apologised. A.K. Antony had come and changed the candidates in five seats.

You were removed from Kayamkulam, they said, and Hassan was put in your place. Five seats were changed altogether.

Before all of this unfolded — while I was still on my way to buy lunch for Chacko and Murali — I had called my mother and told her that I was the candidate from Kayamkulam. I told her that once the announcement was made, I would go straight to Guruvayur, then come to Kollam, take her blessings, and only then go to Kayamkulam. My mother sat in front of the television at five o'clock, waiting to see her son announced as the candidate from Kayamkulam.

And then what happened? My mother watched the news. The announcement came — Rajmohan has been dropped from Kayamkulam and replaced by M.M. Hassan. The moment she saw that news, my mother collapsed.

And the very morning A.K. Antony was being sworn in as Chief Minister at 10 o'clock, my mother lay dead in our home. She had called me to see me one last time."

These were her final words to him:

"If I live, you will never become anything. God will not give me the fortune of seeing that day. So I am going. If I die, at least you will be free — you must be free. God will not give me the blessing of seeing my son become a great man. As long as I am alive, you will never rise. So I am going."

"That is how I lost my mother," Unnithan said, his voice heavy with grief. "She was taken from me as the price of vile politics and this culture of vengeance and factional hatred."