Ramya Haridas to not accept Youth Congress' car gift

Congress MP from Alathur Ramya Haridas Sunday said she will not accept the car which the Youth Congress workers in Kerala have decided to buy her as a gift through crowdfunding, which is in line with her state party chief's views.

A row erupted after the Alathur Youth Congress committee had decided to present a car to their MP and source the amount through crowdfunding.

KPPC President Mullappally Ramachandran on Saturday said the move to collect money was unfair as MPs get loans for buying vehicles and that he would not accept the money if he was in her place.

The debutant MP faced severe criticism on social media after she said she was happy and proud about the Youth Congress' decision.

Haridas, in a Facebook post late Sunday night, said she will listen to her party chief's opinion.

"It was the party which made me an MP. It's the party leadership which helped me achieve whatever I have achieved today. I will accept the party chief's opinion till my last breath," Haridas told PTI.

When asked about the money which might have been collected already, Haridas said the Youth Congress committee will take a decision later.

Haridas is the lone woman Lok Sabha member from the state this time.

She represents the Alathur constituency, which was the red fort of the CPI(M) and defeated two-time MP P K Biju.

Haridas is also the second woman Dalit MP from the state after Bhargavi Thankappan of the CPI who had won in 1971 from Adoor seat.

Alathur unit president of the Youth Congress had earlier said they were planning crowdfunding exclusively among Congress workers and not from the general public.

It was also decided that the Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly would hand over the keys of the vehicle to the Parliament member on August 9, the foundation day of Youth Congress.

Haridas had said that many people had offered a vehicle to her, but she had refused all of them.

"I refused all such offers as it lacked transparency. But in this, the fund is not collected from outside. Today, Youth Congress does not need to collect money from the public. The account will be transparent," she said.

The Youth Congress had printed a coupon with its header, seeking funds to buy the car for their MP.