Malappuram: A CPI(M) leader in Kerala has set off a political storm after delivering a crude, misogynistic speech at a public event celebrating his narrow victory in the local body elections.
Sayed Ali Majeed, who won by just 47 votes, made the remarks on Sunday night in Malappuram district before a gathering of party workers, including women cadres. Videos of the speech have since gone viral, drawing widespread condemnation.
“Marry women to sleep with and make kids”
Targeting the Muslim League, Majeed accused the party of “using women to win votes”. “They displayed women to win votes,” he said, drawing applause from parts of the crowd.
He then turned his comments on women within his own party. “We also have married women at home… but not to show them off to win votes. Let them sit at home. Marry women to sleep with and make kids,” he said.
In another segment of the speech, he invoked tradition to defend his remarks. “That is why families traditionally verify lineage and background while arranging marriages,” he added.
Dares critics to take legal action
In a longer clip circulating online, Majeed appeared to threaten critics, saying that those who enter politics must be prepared to “hear worse things”.
“If you want to file a case against what I said, I know how to deal with it,” he said.
The footage shows women in the audience clapping as the remarks were made — a detail that has intensified the outrage.
Trouble deepens for Left in Kerala after poll drubbing
The controversy comes at a difficult moment for the CPM-led Left Democratic Front, which suffered a sharp setback in the local body elections ahead of next year’s Assembly polls.
The Congress-led UDF won four of six municipal corporations, while the BJP-led NDA scored a major breakthrough by taking control of Thiruvananthapuram, long considered a Left stronghold.
In the 101-member Thiruvananthapuram corporation, the NDA won 50 seats, the LDF slumped to 29, and the UDF secured 19, with two seats going to Independents.
Pressure mounts on CPM leadership
Women’s groups, including the Women’s League, said they were weighing legal action against Majeed. The CPM leadership is yet to respond, even as pressure builds for disciplinary action and an explanation over remarks that have embarrassed the party at a critical political moment.