The Hindu : Kerala News : Kunhalikutty decides to go when the going is good

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 30, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Kunhalikutty decides to go when the going is good

By Girish Menon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, DEC. 29. The Industries Minister and IUML leader, P.K. Kunhalikutty's letter to his party president, Panakkad Syed Mohammedali Sihab Thangal, offering to resign from the Cabinet is the outcome of his decision to go when the going is still good.

According to party sources, the Minister took the decision after considerable thought. The timing of the announcement, according to them, is significant. It has come soon after his son's marriage and at a time when Left-sponsored agitations for his resignation were ebbing. This was the apt time to come up with the offer as he could still claim that neither he nor his party had buckled before the Opposition agitation.

The quit notice also pre-empts any adverse observations by the High Court, which is considering a petition of the accused persons in the ice-cream parlour sex case. Even though Mr. Kunhalikutty's name does not figure in the current case, he might not get any political advantage if the High Court were to make an adverse observation, according to a close aide.

A ploy?

There is a section in the IUML that believes that Mr. Kunhalikutty's offer to resign was a mere ploy. A senior party leader, who is a known opponent, said that the letter he had written to Mr. Thangal could not be considered as a resignation note. "In his letter, Mr. Kunhalikutty has not pressed for his resignation, but rather indicated his difficulty in managing his duty as a Minister and party general secretary," he said. Mr. Kunhalikutty hopes to consolidate his position in the committee by facing it with his offer to quit.

There is another section in the IUML that firmly believes that Mr. Kunhalikutty cannot retract his moves. Mr. Kunhalikutty had earlier stated that he would resign if Mr. Thangal were to ask him to do so. The party committee meetings held in the midst of the Opposition agitations and mounting demands for his resignation, had fully backed him. The State committee meeting on January 1 would have to only formalise it, this section points out.

Inevitable

According to Congress sources, Mr. Kunhalikutty's resignation was inevitable, given the fact that he was finding it difficult to perform his official duties. They asserted that there was a general understanding that Mr. Kunhalikutty would quit soon after his son's marriage and prior to the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi's arrival in the State.

As far as the Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy was concerned, the controversy over the Kozhikode sex scandal had hampered his mass contact programme. At the same time, he found it difficult to take a harsh decision that might maim the cosy relations between the IUML and the Congress. He has had to face a political impasse in the face of the Opposition boycott of Mr. Kunhalikutty's official functions and his inability to convene the Assembly since it was abruptly adjourned sine die.

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