The Hindu : Antony backs M.O. John in byelection

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Antony backs M.O. John in byelection

By Girish Menon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM SEPT. 2. The Kerala Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, today asserted his position in Congress politics by openly backing M. O. John as the party candidate for the Ernakulam Lok Sabha by-election.

Mr. Antony's unambiguous position on the party's candidate has set the stage for another showdown of sorts with the veteran Congress leader, K. Karunakaran, the third in the last six months.

Mr. Karunakaran appeared to be restive over the course of developments, but there are indications that he might not take extreme positions and put up a rebel candidate as he did during the Rajya Sabha elections.

The Chief Minister informed the AICC and the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, his preference for Mr. John over the nominees put forward by the Karunakaran faction — Leno Jacob and T. J. Vinod.

He informed them that Mr. John had better chances of winning the seat than the other two in the KPCC list.

According to reliable sources, the Chief Minister, who was inclined to allot the seat to Mr. Karunakaran's nominee right from the beginning, changed his mind as a result of the latter's prevaricating positions on his nominee. Mr. Karunakaran had first backed Mr. Jacob and then later Mr. Vinod.

The Antony faction suspected that this was an attempt to ensure the defeat of the Congress candidate and put the blame on the performance of the UDF Government.

Senior leaders of the Antony faction met this morning to give shape to their political moves. They were of the opinion that the party should take the political risk of fielding Mr. John rather than fielding candidates who were either unpopular or unknown.

KPCC chief `unhappy'

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, K. Muraleedharan, also appeared to be an unhappy man and this was clear when he stated that the selection of the party's Ernakulam candidate was being made unilaterally. He was apparently irked by the Antony faction's decision to back Mr. John even before he could arrive in the State capital and hold discussions with Mr. Antony on a consensus candidate.

Mr. Muraleedharan told The Hindu that analysing the prospects of the three candidates was meaningless. All of them had equal chances of winning. The key issue, he said, was whether the party could ignore a senior leader like Mr. Karunakaran.

Senior leaders of the Karunakaran faction felt that their opponents seemed to be determined to isolate them and push them out of the party.

Mr. Karunakaran, who retuned home yesterday, was not available for comment. He is keenly observing the moves of his opponents in the party.

Mr. Antony had been inclined to allot the seat to a Karunakaran nominee and the general understanding was that the party high command would accept the proposal.

However, matters took a turn for the worse when Mr. Jacob emerged as the Karunakaran nominee.

It was quite evident from the beginning that Mr. Jacob's candidature would not be accepted.

What is indeed significant is Mr. Antony's decisiveness in the matter and his preparedness to take a political risk in an election, the results of which could be interpreted as a barometer of his Government's popularity.

Mr. Antony took tough positions during the Rajya Sabha elections, refusing to buckle under Mr. Karunakaran's high voltage pressure, which culminated in the latter fielding his nominee as a rebel. Similarly, during the recent Assembly session, Mr. Antony did not give in when the Karunakaran faction threatened to sit as a separate block in the Assembly.

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