Recurring incidents of suicide of Wayanad Cong leaders

Back-to-back suicides by party leaders in Wayanad have put the Congress in Kerala in an embarrassing situation.

It seems Wayanad, hailed as a Congress fortress, is fast turning into a graveyard for the party’s local leaders. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who represents Wayanad in the Lok Sabha, reportedly sought an explanation from the District Congress Committee (DCC) over the suicides of Congress functionaries in the district.

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As many as four Congress leaders, including the Wayanad DCC treasurer, committed suicide over the last two years allegedly due to financial issues and factionalism within the party.

The latest casualty is Jose Nalladam, whose death has once again ripped open the festering wounds of Wayanad Congress politics. Factional rivalries that had already turned violent ,escalated further after DCC president N D Appachan was assaulted by party workers during a development seminar in Mullankolli in July.

Jose Nelledam, a Congress ward member of Mullankolly panchayat, was found dead in a pond near his house on Friday. He reportedly consumed poison and slit his wrists before jumping into the pond.

Nelledam had been facing allegations in connection with the arrest of fellow party leader Thankachan Kannattumalayil in a fabricated case after liquor and explosives were seized from the latter’s car porch.

Thankachan was arrested in a liquor-and-explosives case. But after spending 16 days in jail, Thankachan alleged that it was a conspiracy engineered by the Appachan faction, led by Jose Nelladam.

The allegation unleashed a brutal cyber onslaught against Jose Nelladam. In his suicide note, Jose Nelladambwrote: “The party didn’t stand with me during the crisis. Instead, I faced a severe cyber attack.”

NM. Vijayan, former DCC treasurer, and his son Jijesh took their lives on December 25, 2024. Vijayan had incurred huge debts, allegedly trying to cover up an appointment scam in several cooperative banks in the district involving party leaders.

In his suicide note, Vijayan had directly accused Appachan and senior MLA I C Balakrishnan.Vijayan detailed how debt spiralled to Rs 65 lakh after he mortgaged his assets to cover loans allegedly taken under pressure from Congress leaders, only to be abandoned by the party when the financial noose tightened.

The suicide notes, supposedly written by N.M. Vijayan, former treasurer of the Wayanad District Congress Committee (DCC), which was released by his family in January 2025, has put the Congress leadership in Kerala in a spot.

The suicide note reportedly contains allegations of debt, the incident of taking bribes in the cooperative bank, and the insult that no one cared about him during the crisis despite standing with the Congress party. In addition, the letter sent to former KPCC president K Sudhakaran mentions that MLA I C Balakrishnan had taken money for appointments in various cooperative banks.

In his letter, Vijayan narrated the details of the amounts collected from different candidates for appointments in Congress-ruled cooperative banks, the names of Congress leaders who received these funds, including I C Balakrishnan, N D Appachan and K K Gopinathan, and the loans he took for paying back these amounts.

Vijayan mentioned in his suicide note that he wanted this note to be handed over to Congress leaders, and directed his son Vijesh to wait for 10 days and then hand it over to the Wayanad district police chief.

The letter also reportedly mentioned that Vijayan provided collateral for Rs 10 lakh borrowed by Appachan, which led to a legal case. The reports indicate that Viajyan has a liability of Rs 1.5 crore in different banks.

Going further back,in 2015, senior leader P V John hanged himself inside a party office in Mananthavady after colleagues deserted him during the local-body elections, allegedly backing a rebel candidate against him.

In 2023, party worker Rajendran Nair ended his life in the shadow of the infamous Pulpally fraud, where Congress-linked bank officials were accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of inflating loans and illegally sanctioning funds without applicants’ knowledge.

Despite the repeated tragedies, the party leadership has done little to stem the crisis, it has been alleged. Instead of addressing factionalism, KPCC president Sunny Joseph dodged responsibility after Jose Nelladam’s death, shifting the blame to the police for seizing alcohol and explosives from Thankachan’s house.

Meanwhile, Padmaja, daughter-in-law of former Wayanad DCC treasurer NM Vijayan, who committed suicide reportedly due to mounting debt incurred as part of fundraising efforts for the Congress party during his tenure as Wayanad DCC treasurer, attempted to suicide on Saturday alleging that party flouted promise to settle liabilities the family incurred while Vijayan’s tenure as treasurer.