Mamkootathil asked to stay away from the school science fest organising committee meeting

General Education Minister V Sivankutty on Saturday (August 23, 2025) counselled Rahul Mamkootathil, MLA, who is facing accusations of sexual misconduct, to stay away from the Kerala Schools Science Fest organising committee meeting scheduled to be held at the District Panchayat Hall in Palakkad district on August 25. 

Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Sivankutty said the meeting was a precursor to the science festival to be held in Palakkad from November 10 to November 13.

“The government has not yet struck the Palakkad MLA’s name from the organising. However, the deluge of complaints of inappropriate and misogynistic behaviour against Mr Mamkootathil has caused concern and anxiety among students, parents and teachers. Moreover, his attendance as president of the organising committee might disrupt the meeting”, he said. 

Mr. Sivankutty said repeated attempts by his office to contact Mr. Mamkootathil yielded no fruit. “Mr Mamkoothil has remained incommunicado and disappeared from public life since the accusations against him surfaced in the public domain. He is absconding as more complaints from women keep trickling in,” he said. 

Mr. Sivankutty said political propriety demanded that Mr. Mamkootathil sue his accusers for libel if he deemed their allegations false. “At least the MLA should file a police complaint if he feels there is an entrenched attempt to character assassinate him, instead of attempting to brush aside the grave charges against him”, he added. 

Meeting likely to be shifted out of Palakkad

Meanwhile, Mr. Sivankutty’s office informed that the government was likely to shift the organising committee meeting from Palakkad to Shorunur. Moreover, the department has pulled back science fest notices featuring Mr Mamkootathil’s name and image. 

Local Bodies Minister M.B. Rajesh and Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty are also members of the organising committee alongside Mr. Sivankutty, V.K. Sreekantan, MP, and Mr. Mamkootathil.

Mr. Sivankutty’s office said the government contemplated dropping Mr Mamkootathil from the organising committee, given the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and Bharatiya Janata Party’s threat to boycott the MLA if he dared enter his legislative constituency.

DYFI State secretary, V.K. Sanoj, told reporters in Kozhikode that the left-wing youth organisation would boycott Mr Mamkootathil’s backers in the opposition, including Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and Shafi Parambil, MP.