Thiruvananthapuram, October 27, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Former Congress legislator Shobana George has found herself at the centre of a fresh controversy in Kerala over allegations that an unconventional beauty treatment involving chicken eggs, hibiscus flower buds and other ingredients was conducted during her tenure as chairperson of the state-run Ayurvedic institution Oushadhi.
George has strongly denied the allegations, challenging her critics to produce documentary evidence that she underwent any such treatment.
The controversy has reached the Kerala Assembly, where Congress MLA V.P. Sajeendran raised questions about the alleged use of chicken eggs, hibiscus buds and other ingredients for a beauty regimen. Health Minister K. Muraleedharan has said an inquiry will be conducted into the matter.
George has responded to the allegations with sarcasm on social media. In a Facebook video, she used the caption, “I came to bathe in Palaruvi after applying hibiscus buds and chicken eggs”.
In another video, she is seen eating puri and sabji when someone asks why eggs are missing from her breakfast. Responding sarcastically, she says she has already eaten 100 eggs that morning and adds that she would not eat eggs without hibiscus buds.
Behind the social media exchanges is a political career that has seen George move between different political camps. She was elected to the Kerala Assembly three times from Chengannur as a Congress legislator.
In 2005, she resigned from the Congress after supporting the faction led by veteran party leader K. Karunakaran. Karunakaran subsequently formed the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran), which later became an ally of the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
George contested the 2006 Assembly election but lost. After spending a period away from active politics within the Congress, she joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), ahead of the 2016 Assembly elections. During the Left Democratic Front’s tenure, she subsequently headed two state-run corporations.
The latest controversy relates to her time as chairperson of Oushadhi. According to reports about an internal inquiry, a beauty treatment was allegedly conducted in a deluxe, air-conditioned room at the institution’s Panchakarma hospital without the procedure being entered in the hospital records.
The report reportedly referred to the use of three kilograms of hibiscus flower buds, eggs, lemon juice and Eladi coconut oil, along with other mixtures for facial and body treatments.
It also reportedly questioned whether official funds and doctors’ services had been used for a procedure that was not part of the hospital’s established treatment offerings.
George has rejected the allegations and maintained that she did not undergo any treatment at Oushadhi. She has also announced plans to complain to the Assembly Speaker against Sajeendran, accusing him of making false allegations in the House.
Muraleedharan has said a report concerning the alleged unauthorised treatment is available, but no action has been taken so far. The promised inquiry is expected to examine the allegations and the circumstances surrounding the reported procedure.
The episode has also revived attention on George’s political associations, including her earlier association with Karunakaran’s faction. Karunakaran’s son was the party president during the period when they were part of the same political camp.
For the 64-year-old politician, whose career has spanned the Congress, a Karunakaran-led political outfit and later the CPI(M), the controversy marks another episode in a public life shaped by changing political alignments.
Whether the matter remains a political dispute or leads to formal action will depend on the findings of the inquiry and the evidence established.
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