CPM ex-MLA P Aisha Potty joins Congress, says 'decision-makers' made it difficult for her in CPM

Thiruvananthapuram: Former Kerala legislator Aisha Potty, once hailed as CPM's giant killer following her electoral wins in Kottarakara, sprang a rude surprise for the LDF on Tuesday by accepting Congress membership at the KPCC protest venue in front of the Secretariat on Tuesday. She arrived at the venue in tow with the Opposition Leader V D Satheesan, KPCC General Secretary and MP K C Venugopal and Congress leader P C Vishnunath. The KPCC is holding a day-and-night sit-in protest against the centre's decision to replace MGNREGA.

Aisha Potty who had earlier been removed from the Kottarakara area committee and later from the district committee has consistently maintained that she refrained from active politics due to her health issues. Her apparent aloofness from the party programmes had triggered murmurs of discontent. Potty, however, was tight-lipped about any kind of dissent with the CPM. 

The CPM banked on Aisha Potty to break the three-decade old victory streak of UDF leader R Balakrishna Pillai in Kottarakara assembly constituency. Pillai was almost invincible in Kottarakara since 1977 till Potty emerged and trounced him in the assembly elections in 2006. In the next two terms, she shored up her majority and cemented Kottarakara as a sure seat for the CPM. In 2016, following her third victory from Kottarakara, it was rumoured that she would be handed a Minister/Speaker post. Aisha Potty, however, never sulked over the party's decisions. 

On Tuesday, for the first time since announcing her retirement from active politics, she opened up in the presence of Congress leaders. "My decision is going to hurt many comrades. In the coming days, I am going to face virulent, ugly onslaught on social media. I am ready to face that. Certain decision makers made things difficult for me. I don't wish to blame anyone; it is not in my nature. I am not familiar with bad language. I have come here not wishing for any posts. I want to be a normal worker," she said in a brief speech addressing the Congress workers who raised slogans to welcome her to the venue. 

The Congress believes that if Aisha Potty is willing to be fielded as a candidate in Kottarakara, there is a high chance of a win. In the 2021 assembly elections, CPM candidate K N Balagopal won the constituency with a margin of 10814 votes against the Congress candidate R Resmi. The margin was much lower than what Aisha Potty had garnered in Kottarakara. V D Satheesan said that her words reflected the torment and hardships she had faced. 

Earlier in 2024, when Aisha Potty decided to take part in a commemoration meeting for former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy organised by the Kottarakara Block Congress committee, there were reports that she would join the Congress. Potty had then set aside such rumors saying that she was not associated with the CPM and she was free to participate in an event where other parties also took part.