The Hindu : Kerala News : LDF does a good turn for NC(I)

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

LDF does a good turn for NC(I)

C. Gouridasan Nair

Opinion divided in LDF on poll strategy

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) has done a good turn for the nascent National Congress(Indira) by deciding not to field its candidate in the June 3 Rajya Sabha election.

The Opposition strategy is clearly not to land the NC(I), led by senior Congress leader, K. Karunakaran, in a spot. Had the LDF decided to field its own candidate in the Rajya Sabha election, it would have forced Congress legislators owing allegiance to Mr. Karunakaran and the NC(I) working president, K. Muraleedharan, to vote against the Congress nominee, A.K. Antony, or abstain from voting, inviting disqualification in both the events.

Any LDF decision that would have forced the pro-Karunakaran Congress MLAs to vote against Mr. Antony would also have proved risky as that would have resulted in more desertions from the already thin legislator ranks of the new party. Equally importantly, Mr. Muraleedharan himself and the Congress MLAs allied with Mr. Karunakaran would not certainly want to vote against Mr. Antony because they see him as some kind of an ally who can leverage the Congress leadership to see their point of view, if not now at least a while later.

What the LDF, particularly the CPI(M) leadership, has chosen to do is to invite some ridicule in the larger interest of keeping the Congress flock in the State divided. This is quite in keeping with the general approach to the NC(I) articulated by the CPI(M) State secretary, Pinarayi Vijayan, in an article published recently in the party organ `Deshabhimani.' In his article, Mr. Vijayan had made it clear that the CPI(M) would be proactive when it comes to dealing with the NC(I) vis-à-vis its relations with the Congress and the UDF leadership.

The CPI(M) leadership had found itself in a spot when the Leader of the Opposition, V.S. Achuthanandan, stated at a news conference here the other day that the LDF would certainly field someone in the Rajya Sabha election. In hindsight, it seems that Mr. Achuthanandan's statement only helped the NC(I) leadership who went into an overdrive to ensure that the LDF stayed clear of the Rajya Sabha poll fray. What Mr. Achuthanandan had stated and what the LDF leadership finally decided suggest that opinion is divided within the LDF on how the Opposition should have handled the Rajya Sabha election.

The LDF convener, Paloli Mohammed Kutty, has tried to explain away the LDF decision as one resulting from the difficulty to communicate with LDF constituent party leaders, but few would take that argument on its face value. Mr. Achuthanandan has not taken kindly to the LDF leadership's decision, but the CPI(M) leadership seems convinced that tactically it has done the right thing by keeping out of the Rajya Sabha election.

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