Kasaragod: Three years after a bitter homecoming to the Congress, East Eleri’s once-formidable rebel leader, James Panthammakkal -- elevated since then as District Congress vice-president -- has been suspended from the party, just before the local body election.

KPCC president Sunny Joseph suspended Panthammakkal for “serious violation of party discipline”, KPCC general secretary Neyyattinkara Sanal said in a brief communiqué on Wednesday.

The swift disciplinary action marks the fall of a regional satrap who dominated East Eleri politics since 2005 as president or vice-president of the panchayat -- a leader the Congress repeatedly indulged, often alienating its own workers. 

A day earlier, on November 25, Panthammakkal resigned as DCC vice-president after the district leadership ignored his demand to field candidates of his choice in the East Eleri panchayat. He claimed he asked for only two wards. The leadership said he demanded four.

The Congress agreed to field one of his nominees:
Sherly Cheenkallel, a sitting member who contested as a DDF candidate in 2020 from Kannivayal ward, is now the Congress candidate from Munayamkunnu (Ward 11).

His second demand to field Jessy Tom, a member from 2015 to 2020 when DDF swept the panchayat, was rejected. Jessy is now contesting as a rebel from the new Ward 3 (Chittarikkal South).

At his press conference announcing his resignation, Panthammakkal accused DCC president P K Faisal of taking money to decide candidates. He alleged Faisal collected upwards of ₹25,000 from workers to make them office-bearers. Faisal denied the allegations and said he would report Panthammakkal to the KPCC.

The suspension came quickly because the party knew he no longer commanded the crowds he once did in East Eleri, one of Congress’s few strongholds in Kasaragod district.

“There was a time when 5,000 people would assemble in Chittarikkal town if he called,” said a former supporter. “Today, he should be happy if 15 show up.” The Congress also did well by accommodating his supporters in the party’s mandalam and block committees

In 2015, Panthammakkal split from the Congress and formed the Democratic Development Front (DDF). The new outfit swept East Eleri, winning 10 of 15 seats.
The Congress collapsed into one ward, while the CPM, capitalising on the division, secured four seats for the first time.

At his peak, Panthammakkal even took on the powerful Church, and a priest went so far as to denounce DDF as “forces of the devil” during a Sunday sermon.

In 2020, the Congress clawed back to win seven seats, but DDF also won seven and, with CPM support, retained control of the panchayat. Panthammakkal became president again.

In November 2022, then KPCC president K Sudhakaran brokered peace: Panthammakkal and his seven DDF members returned to the Congress on the condition that he would step down as panchayat president.

But during the April 2023 election for the president’s post, he fielded his own candidate, and DCC president Faisal supported him, even issuing a whip to Congress members to vote for Panthammakkal’s pick.

By then, East Eleri Congress had had enough. They propped up Joseph Mutholil, the most senior Congress leader, as a rebel candidate and, with support from the two CPM members, got him elected as president.
The Congress later recognised Mutholil as its own panchayat president.

On November 20, even as Panthammakkal was negotiating with the party's district leadership for seats, the candidates selected by the East Eleri Congress mandalam committee and the IUML filed their nomination papers.

That same day, he got into a fistfight with former INTUC leader and farm workers’ union head Vasudevan, a video that spread widely. 
The party leadership stayed silent, effectively green-lighting the mandalam committee’s decision.

A disgruntled Panthammakkal retaliated with a press conference on November 25, accusing Faisal of corruption, selling party posts, and even “trapping” him into the scuffle with Vasudevan.