The LDF's attack on Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil did not play out as anticipated in the Assembly. In fact, there was no direct onslaught on the MLA who has been soaked in a multiplicity of female abuse charges. 

Of course, the MLA was shamed in absentia many times,  but the barbs were hurled by the ruling side in the most unlikely moments, while answering a seemingly routine administrative poser during Question Hour for instance, or during the discussion on the Wildlife Protection (Kerala Amendment) Bill. 

It was health minister Veena George who found perhaps the perfect moment to throw eggs at Mamkoottathil. One of the charges against the MLA was that he had bullied a female into terminating her pregnancy. 

During Question Hour on September 16, CPM's young Kalliassery MLA M Vijin had a word of appreciation and also a question for the health minister. "It is a matter of great pride that the infant mortality rate in Kerala is now lower than even that of the United States of America. It is a stupendous achievement," he said, and added: "What are the treatment mechanisms that the Health Department has put in place in our hospitals to make this possible?"

The minister got up triumphantly. "It is a great, great achievement," she said. "The USA's infant mortality rate is 5.6 (per 1,000 live births). Ours has now come down to 5. This is a historical feat," she said.

After expressing her heartfelt gratitude to those behind the achievement, she pulled out of nowhere the eggs meant to be thrown at Mamkoottathil's face. "Our efforts are not to kill children but to protect them. We hold children close to us," she said. Had it not been for the wild thumping of desks by the ruling party members and their jeers directed at the UDF benches, the innuendo wrapped in the minister's quick rhetoric could have easily been missed. 

Without saying anything more, or even waiting for the thumping to die down, the minister informed the House in a business-like fashion the steps the government had taken to bring down infant mortality. "The government has a special programme to care for the child right from the time it forms in the mother's womb and for the next 1,000 days; from its embryonic stage till it is two years old," the minister said. 

After this remark, and in the days that followed, many LDF members were heard using this 'better than America' infant mortality rate (IMR) to take a subtle dig at Mamkoottathil in the Assembly.

The IMR lends itself easily to an anti-Mamkoottathil meme, but CPM's Varkala MLA, V. Joy, alluding to a "deer herd," must have gone over the heads of even the LDF members, at least initially. Animal Husbandry Minister J Chinchu Rani was seen turning back to look at the MLA as if taken aback that even she was not privy to the information that Joy was offering. 

The MLA was speaking during the discussion on The Wildlife Protection (Kerala Amendment) Bill, 2025, on Friday. The Bill has provisions to order the killing of "dangerous" Schedule I animals like the tiger, leopard and elephant without any delay. 

"For the last many years, wild animals have been causing people great trouble. Wild boars, tigers, leopards, elephants, gaurs, all of these wild animals are messing up with the lives of people. This Bill will bring some relief to the people," he began.  

"Besides these animals, there are deer herds in the wild. These are harmless creatures. But there are certain deer species in the land. These are dangerous. A stage has reached where Kerala can no longer tolerate the behaviour of these land-based deer herds," Joy said. It is at this point that the animal husbandry minister turned back in surprise. 

Joy was actually playing with the word 'Mamkoottathil'. The Malayalam for a deer herd is 'maan koottam'. It was only when he started to describe the characteristics of this 'deer herd' (maan koottam) that his real target was revealed. 

"There are deer herds (maan koottangal) that address even people older than their fathers like they would servants," he said. Rahul Mamkoottathil had earlier addressed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan 'edo' (hey you).

"It was a 'deer herd' ('maan koottam') who had once threatened an excise officer who had merely stopped his car as part of his election duties," Joy said. This was a reference to the night check on the vehicle in which Shafi Parambil MP and Rahul Mamkoottathil were travelling during the Nilambur by-election campaign period.

Joy used forest administration jargon to refer to the Congress action against Rahul Mamkoottathil, too. "Sensing that the activities of the 'maan koottam' have become too dangerous, it was decided to tranquilise it. But it did not work. It turned against those who attempted to tranquilise it," he said. 

He concluded his deer story with a cryptic sentence that seemed to hint at his concern for the women allegedly troubled by the Palakkad MLA. "The poor deer herd in the forest is in a state of deep fright," he said.

If no one in the Opposition attempted to counter these taunts, it could be because the attacks were largely indirect.