The Hindu : Kerala News : House likely to be more relaxed

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Tuesday, Sep 14, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

House likely to be more relaxed

By K.M. Tampi

Vakkom Purushothaman

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEPT. 13. The Vakkom Purushothaman era has ended, at least for the time being, in the Assembly. The Therambil Ramakrishnan era will begin with the election of the senior leader to the post of Speaker next week.

Both the leaders entered active politics through the students' movement. Both are also lawyers. The similarities probably end there. The dissimilarities begin with their age — while the former is 76, the latter is 13 years younger. Mr. Purushothaman started his political life as a Students Congress activist. Therambil Ramakrishnan came over to the Congress from the NDP. Mr. Purushothaman is a typical son of Thiruvananthapuram, to the language and accent. The latter is a typical Thrissurian.

Dissimilar personalities

Their personalities are also dissimilar. Mr. Purushothaman is something of a man in a hurry. He wants to finish the work on hand at the earliest, and take up the next. If there is any obstruction in the way, he would not mind sweeping it aside to reach the goal. The end is more important to him than the means. His vast and rich experience as Minister, two stints as Speaker of the Assembly, Lieutenant Governor, MP and MLA in addition to nearly six decades of political service stood him in good stead.

Mr. Ramakrishnan is more easy-going, pleasant, less tough, less business-like, soft-spoken and mild-mannered. He has also put in a stint as Speaker of the Assembly. He has served as member on the director board of the NSS and as general secretary and later chairman of the NDP.

Therambil Ramakrishnan

Functioning of House

It is only natural for the atmosphere of the House to reflect the personality of the custodian. The atmosphere of the House was strict, business-like and no-nonsense under Mr. Purushothaman. He ran the House strictly according to rules. This often brought him into direct confrontation with the Opposition. In fact, the complaint was that he was running the House like a schoolmaster. The Rules of Procedure lay down how each and every business should be transacted in the House. But, at times the members bend the rules a bit to achieve their ends. Many persons who had functioned as Speaker allowed it knowingly in order to reduce the tension in the House or improve the atmosphere. Varkala Radhakrishnan is known as a stickler for rules. He knows them by heart too as he probably does most of the laws of the land. Nobody could make a statement under the cover of a point of order when he was a Speaker. He asked the rule under which the member sought to raise the point and dismissed it if it was not in order. But, even

P.P. Thankachan

Mr. Radhakrishnan used to make some compromises to keep the Opposition in good humour. Not Mr. Purushothaman.

Thankachan's policy

It would be interesting in this context to examine how P.P. Thankachan, who was also a nominee of the Congress, functioned as Speaker. His style was in stark contrast to that of Mr. Purushothaman. He also went strictly by the rules. But he made small compromises. When it came to making submissions, for instance, he gave an opportunity to the maximum number of members. It is local issues such as the poor condition of roads, shortage of water supply or shortcomings of hospitals in their constituencies that the members raise through submissions. Pressure builds up if the members are not allowed to raise them and that, in turn, spoils the atmosphere of the House. But the members can let off some steam if they are allowed to raise local issues in some manner and that improves the atmosphere of the House considerably. That policy of Mr. Thankachan used to pay rich dividends. The only problem was that the House had to sit for hours beyond its scheduled time every day except Fridays.

If past record is any pointer, Mr. Ramakrishnan is not likely to adopt either of these courses. Will he adopt the middle ground? If he does, he would be able to improve the atmosphere of the House, the relationship between the Opposition and the ruling front and above all the relationship between him and the Opposition, which is absolutely essential for the smooth running of the House and the transaction of business by it as per schedule.

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