- Palode Ravi resigned as Thiruvananthapuram District Congress Committee president on Saturday
- KPCC president Sunny Joseph accepted Palode Ravi's resignation and expelled A Jaleel from Congress
- A leaked call revealed Palode Ravi predicting poor Congress results in local body and Assembly elections
Palode Ravi, president of the Thiruvananthapuram District Congress Committee, resigned from his post on Saturday following "embarrassment caused to the party after he predicted a poor performance" for the Congress in the upcoming local body and Assembly elections.
KPCC president Sunny Joseph, in a statement, said he had accepted Palode Ravi's resignation.
He also announced the expulsion of Vamanapuram block general secretary A Jaleel-whose eight-minute phone conversation with Ravi was leaked-from the party's primary membership for engaging in "anti-organisational activities".
Party sources said Palode Ravi was asked to resign on the instructions of the AICC leadership.
Earlier in the day, Sunny Joseph said he was holding consultations with the AICC on the "grave" issue.
A leaked phone conversation between Ravi and Jaleel-in which Ravi predicted "doom" for the Congress in the upcoming elections-had triggered shockwaves among state leaders, who have been projecting a major victory for the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
The conversation was aired by Malayalam television channels earlier in the day.
In the call, Ravi is heard criticising "groupism and selfishness among local leaders", saying the party has "lost mutual respect and trust." "They are only keen on backstabbing each other, and there is nobody to work among the people," he claimed.
He went on to say that, under the current circumstances, the Congress would come third in the local body polls and "fall flat" in the Assembly elections.
"The BJP is targeting at least 60 Assembly seats, where they will distribute money and secure around 50,000 votes. The Congress will lose those seats, and the CPI(M) will retain power," he is heard saying.
He also remarked that Congress would become "useless baggage" after the elections.
Later, downplaying the issue, Ravi-a former deputy speaker and MLA-told reporters the conversation was "meant to motivate workers to strengthen the party's organisational structure and campaign more actively." "I don't know how the call was leaked. The UDF is united in its campaign, and I had only urged workers to stay together and reclaim the local bodies we lost earlier," he added.
The Congress has been making elaborate arrangements for its local body poll campaign, assigning senior leaders to lead efforts in the three major municipal corporations.
The charge for Thiruvananthapuram has been given to senior leader K Muraleedharan, for Ernakulam to Opposition Leader V D Satheesan, and Kozhikode to Congress Working Committee member Ramesh Chennithala.
The upcoming local body polls are tentatively scheduled for December this year, while the assembly elections are due in April next year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
