New Delhi, March 20 (IANS) The Congress on Friday found itself in a piquant situation with its national spokesperson Shama Mohamed airing frustration over poor representation of women among the candidates given tickets for the April 9 Keralam Assembly elections.

Apart from a veiled criticism of the party’s ticket distribution, Shama also sought the intervention of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to give aspiring women ticket seekers in the state their due.

“Denied but not defeated. I respectfully urge my leader @rahulgandhi ji who I adore, respect & Admire to help the Congress women of Kerala. Out of the 92 tickets, only 9 tickets were given to women. In the Lok Sabha of 24, only 1 woman was given out of the 16 tickets distributed. And if the woman happens to be talented, the situation is dire! Very very sad,” wrote Shama on X.

Her remarks, which may cause a certain amount of unease in the party, came a day after the Congress released the third and final list of candidates, covering 37 constituencies in Keralam. In the 140-member Kerala Assembly, the party will contest 92 seats.

Shama, a practising dentist, is not new to controversies. Last year, she stirred up a controversy by allegedly fat-shaming the then Indian cricket team Captain Rohit Sharma.

In a now-deleted social media post, Shama said that Rohit was “fat for a captain”, calling him “unimpressive”. She was forced to take down the post after a public outcry and party reprimand.

The BJP had hit out at her for targeting Rohit and said that those who lost 90 elections under the captaincy of Rahul Gandhi were calling Rohit’s captaincy as unimpressive.

An embarrassed Congress had to distance itself from her remarks on Rohit.

The former TV journalist, who did her primary schooling in Kuwait, sparked another storm when she accused Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir of religious bias following the omission of Mumbai’s Sarfaraz Khan from the India ‘A’ squad for the upcoming series against South Africa ‘A’.

In a post on X, Shama wrote, “Is Sarfaraz Khan not selected because of his surname! Just asking. We know where Gautam Gambhir stands on that matter,” triggering a fierce political and social media backlash.

The controversy erupted after the BCCI selection committee announced the 15-member India ‘A’ team for two first-class matches against South Africa ‘A’.

Sarfaraz, who had been in impressive domestic form, was not included in the squad, with chief selector Ajit Agarkar clarifying that his absence was due to an injury concern.

Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam condemned the remarks, calling them “anti-national” and “an attempt to spread communalism”.

–IANS

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