The Hindu : Hunger strike may haunt Congress during electioneering

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 28, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Hunger strike may haunt Congress during electioneering

By Girish Menon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 27. The decision of the two suspended KPCC general secretaries, T. Saratchandra Prasad and Rajmohan Unnithan, to withdraw their agitation against the party disciplinary action has come as a great relief to the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leadership. But the hunger stir would continue to haunt the Congress party in Kerala during electioneering.

The strike, if it had continued, would have brought more embarrassment to the KPCC and the Karunakaran group as it was staged in the portico of the Indira Bhavan, the party's State headquarters, which is in the latter's control.

The Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, was also saved from embarrassment as the issue, which could have become a law and order problem and could have spilled over to the street on election eve, was brushed under the carpet through the high command's intervention.

The two general secretaries, who were the vocal spokesmen of the Karunakaran faction, highlighted the issue that two laws prevailed in the Congress, one for Mr. Karunakaran's family and one for the party workers. They found many sympathisers in the party, some of them overt and quite a few of them covert. But it gains currency in the context of the general disaffection in the party that Mr. Karunakaran had been given more than his due, including tickets for his daughter and son.

The hunger stir and the issue the agitators raised would therefore continue to pursue the Congress and the party leaders would have a hard time explaining their positions during electioneering.

The rebellion by the two party functionaries has another significance. It signals a further erosion of supporters from the Karunakaran camp. The trend started from the Rajya Sabha elections last year and gathered steam even as Mr. Karunakaran pushed the party to a virtual split.

Even though Mr. Karunakaran has almost got his way in the distribution of tickets and selection of candidates, the rebellion has virtually weakened his position in the party further, besides drastically reducing his leverage in achieving his original objective of forcing a leadership change.

Several Karunakaran faction MLAs and leaders today are assertive in their declaration that they would not cooperate in any more dissident activities in future. "We stood with Mr. Karunakaran hoping for a leadership change. This would not be possible in the coming days. This is the end of the road. The next two years Congressmen should concentrate on strengthening the hands of the UDF Government to perform," a senior `I' group MLA said.

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