The Hindu : Kerala political crisis in a new phase

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 27, 2003

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Kerala political crisis in a new phase

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Nov. 26. The political crisis in Kerala centred on a power tussle within the State unit of the Congress took a new turn today, when pressure mounted on K. Karunakaran, the former Chief Minister and the bete noire of the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, to rethink his strategy with regard to his demand for a leadership change in the ruling United Democartaic Front (UDF) led by his party. This was a consequence of the Kerala Congress (B) and the Kerala Congress (Jacob), two UDF partners known to be sympathetic to Mr. Karunakaran, today deciding to wait till December 1 for a resolution of the Congress conundrum. The two parties, which had grouped together for better bargaining power within the coalition, made it clear that political propriety demanded that all UDF partners wait till December 1 as requested by the High Command and agreed to by them.

At another level, the JSS, or the Janadhipatya Samrakshana Samiti, headed by the Agriculture Minister, K. R. Gauri, and the CMP, or the Communist Marxist Party, led by Mr. M.V. Raghavan, endorsed the decision to wait till December 1. Mr. Raghavan, who came out of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) many years ago, went one step further by stating that all UDF partners should take an unambiguous stand with regard to their support to the UDF government.

The leaders of the two Kerala Congress streams, R. Balakrishna Pillai and T. M. Jacob, both Ministers, denied that the four MLAs from their groups were part of a list of 34 MLAs who, Mr. Karunakaran had claimed last week, supported his moves. The two UDF parties, which in the past have not concealed their connections with Mr. Karunakaran, shifted their position in the light of Mr. Karunakaran's reported moves to meet the Governor with a list of 34 MLAs and question the majority of the Antony Government.

A coordination committee of the two Kerala Congress streams had a prolonged discussion on the political situation. It is keeping its options open by deciding that it would review its position on the basis of the political outcome on December 1. The meeting was attended by the four MLAs.

Mr. Balakrishna Pillai said that he hoped that the stand taken by the UDF partners would force Mr. Karunakaran to rethink his extreme positions. Even though the coalition partners did not openly state so, it is obvious that they have been prompted to shift their position because the Karunakaran faction had failed to convince them that he indeed had the numbers. Attempts by Mr. Pillai and Mr. Jacob to distance themselves from Mr. Karunakaran's current moves should also be seen in the light of the fact that it would have been well nigh impossible for them to continue as Transport Minister and Water Resources Minister respectively if they fail to clarify their position on the numbers Mr. Karunakaran has been claiming.

High Command's stand

Our New Delhi Special Correspondent writes:

Mr. Karunakaran's threat to meet the Kerala Governor on Friday - purportedly to prove that he had the support of enough number of MLAs to topple the Antony Government -- notwithstanding, the Congress High Command today maintained it would address the power struggle in the State only after December 1. The party's spokesman, Abhishek Singhvi, went to the extent of saying that ``whatever Mr. Karunakaran may choose to do,'' the Congress would stick to its stance that all Kerala-related issues would be taken up after the round of Assembly elections that are due to end on December 1.

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