The political rehabilitation process for former CPI(M) rebel, A P Abdullahkutty, was completed on Tuesday as the Congress gave him a nomination for an Assembly by-election in Kerala. Abdullahkutty, who resigned from the CPI(M) after facing disciplinary action, and was subsequently expelled from the party, will be the Congress candidate in the Kannur constituency. Earlier, he was the Lok Sabha member from Kannur.
Abdullahkutty was sidelined in the CPI(M) after he praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his development works. The tussle between the CPI(M) and its firebrand MP continued for almost two years before he was denied a party ticket in the Lok Sabha elections.