The Hindu : Kerala News : State to miss Nayanar this election season

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 26, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

State to miss Nayanar this election season

By C. Gouridasan Nair

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 25. Kerala would miss its most colourful political campaigner this election season. He has led several campaigns of the CPI(M) and LDF, hiding his sharp political acumen behind a façade of levity and regaling audience, both urban and rural, with his earthy humour and rare candour. But that is not to be this time. Though still full of the fighting spirit of a revolutionary, an ailing E.K. Nayanar, left here for Delhi this afternoon for treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), leaving behind sufficient hints that he would at best be a late entrant on the LDF campaign trail this poll season.

"I will certainly miss the campaign. Though I am going to be out of the State, my mind is here," Mr. Nayanar said, with moist eyes, when asked whether he felt bad that he cannot be part of the campaign this time. He did not, however, forget to wish for a handsome win for the LDF and said the Opposition alliance would get at least 12 out of the 20 seats up for grabs in the State. "Thank you, thank you all," the Communist veteran repeated as he walked into the lift of the apartment complex opposite the State headquarters of the CPI(M) where top brass of the State CPI(M) live, in a kind of farewell to arms.

He also had a few revelations to make before he left. Like why statues of Sree Narayana Guru come under attack every poll eve, why there was a theft at Sivagiri and who was responsible for the poster showing the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, and the VHP leader, Pravin Togadia. He was certain that if the media cared to take a closer look at the `beheading' of Guru statues, they would find that all such incidents happened during run up to elections and were intended to malign the Leftists. Listing the various instances of desecration of Guru statues, including the spate of such incidents prior to the 2001 Assembly election, Mr. Nayanar said he had sufficient information suggesting a conspiracy behind such incidents.

On the poster showing Mr. Antony and Mr. Togadia together, the CPI(M) veteran said the person behind the poster was none other than K. Muraleedharan, the power Minister. The poster was printed outside Kerala at Mr. Muraleedharan' s instance, but it proved useful for the LDF. The question that demanded more attention was why Mr. Antony did not put an end to Mr. Togadia's speech in Thiruvananthapuram and why allowed the VHP leader to go round north Kerala and speak after the Marad incidents, he said.

Mr. Nayanar also demanded to know what happened to K. Karunakaran's demand for a leadership change in the UDF. The UDF, he said, was never short of strategies to fool the people and cited the way the UDF leaders went about promising freedom for the PDP leader, Abdul Nasir Maudany, before the 2001 Assembly poll as an instance for this. The BJP leaders were not far behind in this. The BJP leader, O. Rajagopal, had even taken Maudany's wife to the Home Minister, L.K. Advani, but Advani was apparently in no mood to release the person who was accused of having conspired to kill him, Mr. Nayanar said.

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