Kochi: Rahul Mamkoottathil, a vibrant face of the Congress on Malayalam television debates, has been elected the state president of the Indian Youth Congress.
Rahul, hailing from Pathanamthitta, polled a total of 2,21,986 votes in the party's internal election while his opponent Abin Varkey, also a television star of the Congress, had to settle for 1,68,588 votes.
Ten contestants, including Abin and Aritha Babu, will be made state vice presidents of the party's youth wing.
Both Rahul and Abin were general secretaries in the previous state committee headed by Shafi Parambil. Rahul is a close confidante of Shafi, who represents the Palakkad assembly constituency.
In Congress'complex internal politics, Rahul represented the 'A' group, loyalists of the late Oommen Chandy, while Abin was fielded by the 'I' group, led by Ramesh Chennithala.
The results were announced on Tuesday, two months after the poll was held.
Reacting to the election win, Rahul said he was sad that Oommen Chandy was not there to witness the moment. "Oommen Chandy sir would have been so happy to see my victory," he said.
Rahul said the excitement over the victory will be reflected in the protests against the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the Pinarayi Vijayan dispensation in Kerala which, according to him, were vying with each other to become the most anti-people regimes.
