The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Reward for practitioner of clean politics

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 20, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Reward for practitioner of clean politics

Girish Menon

K. Sankaranarayanan's appointment as Governor of Nagaland

K.Sankaranarayanan

Thiruvananthapuram: The former Finance Minister K Sankaranarayanan's appointment as Governor of Nagaland comes as an apt reward for a practitioner of clean politics, and one who has been a staunch Congressman who guided the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala through turbulent times for 16 years.

One of the senior-most Congress leaders in the State, Mr. Sankaranarayanan is known for his ways of managing the UDF through the pulls and pressures of parties with diverse interests.

He earned the respect and confidence of all the coalition partners, particularly the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second major party in the coalition. He was able to instil confidence among the coalition leaders with his fair play and behind-the-screen coalition management.

He presided over several ups and downs of the UDF. Mr. Sankaranarayanan finished his innings as UDF convener by ensuring that the coalition returned to power with its best-ever ruling majority.

Known to be a close confidant of Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Mr. Sankaranarayanan has kept himself above factional politics of the Congress party in Kerala.

Strong views

He had strong political views about the direction that the Congress in Kerala should take, but that did not endear him to several leaders.

The State was going through a major financial crisis when he took over as Finance Minister in the Antony Cabinet.

He was the first Finance Minister to bring out a White Paper that laid threadbare the financial mismanagement of the previous LDF regime.

He was instrumental in guiding the State through its fiscal reforms programme, though it involved some hard measures, including downsizing Government staff and reducing several benefits.

Within three years, the State finances witnessed a turnaround and most of the benefits of Government employees were restored. Many say Oommen Chandy who succeeded Mr. Antony as Chief Minister could launch several of his dream development projects on the strength of the sound exchequer left behind by Mr. Sankaranarayanan.

Mr. Sankaranarayanan was tipped for a Governor's posting months ago.

His was the only name proposed by the Congress, though there were others who staked their claim. As Nagaland Governor, Mr. Sankaranarayanan would have to bring all his political skills into full play to manage a troubled State in a troubled region. For a person known for his fair play, he expressed confidence in performing his role with the dignity that a gubernatorial assignment calls for.

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