Alathur MP Ramya Haridas Sunday said she will accept her party chief's opinion and decided not to accept the car, which the Youth Congress workers in Kerala have decided to buy through crowdfunding as a gift to her. A row erupted after the Alathur Youth Congress committee has decided to present a car to their MP and source the amount through crowdfunding. KPPC President Mullappally Ramachandran had yesterday said that the move to collect money was unfair as MPs would get loans for buying vehicles and that he would not accept the money if he was in her place. The debutant Haridas faced severe criticisms in social media after she said she was happy and proud about the Youth Congress decision. Haridas, in a Facebook post put up late Sunday night said she will listen to her party chief's opinion. "It was the party which made me an MP. Its the party leadership which helped me to 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, she 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 CPI(M) and defeated two-time MP P K Biju. Alathur unit president of the Youth Congress had earlier said that 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. She is also the second woman Dalit MP from the state after Bhargavi Thankappan of the CPI who had won back in 1971 from Adoor seat. 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 has printed a coupon in its header, seeking funds to buy the car for their MP.