Opinion - Editorials   

Messy divorce, unhappy reunion

More often than not, the losses from a divorce are far greater than any gains from a reunion. A homecoming cannot undo any of the damage K. Karunakaran did to himself and his party when he walked out of the Congress more than two years ago. In 2005, the consummate factionalist who was thrice Chief Minister of Kerala took away with him several members of the Legislative Assembly, and damaged the organisational structure of the Congress beyond repair. Now at the beginning of 2008, the veteran who is only six months shy of becoming a nonagenarian brings back to his parent party nothing of significance — not even his son, K. Muraleedharan. The Congress high command, if it has learnt anything at all from past experience, will not trust Mr. Karunakaran with any kind of decision-making role. The reunion might have been originally conceived to secure the political future of his children, as also of the few remaining loyal supporters. However, as things stand, Mr. Muraleedharan is not willing to desert the Nationalist Congress Party. Although the father believes the son will follow him back into the parent party sooner or later, Mr. Muraleedharan has signalled his aversion to the reunion in no uncertain terms. Indeed, his supporters went to the extent of attacking the venue of a meeting where the Karunakaran faction was discussing the reunion option.

Mr. Muraleedharan must be acutely aware that his camp’s bargaining power has been severely weakened. If he is to return to the Congress fold, he will be obliged to settle for far less than what he enjoyed in the organisation at the time he walked away with his father to form a new party, the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran). As the Assembly election of 2006 demonstrated, DIC(K), even as part of the Congress-led United Democratic Front, was a poor vote-gatherer. The party subsequently merged with the NCP, but it has gained nothing from this manoeuvre other than the ‘nationalist’ label. Unless Mr. Karunakaran is able to wrest some significant organisational post for him, Mr. Muraleedharan is unlikely to be tempted to join the Congress. But the father’s reasoning seems to be more pragmatic. He cannot expect to gain anything for himself in the Congress, but he appears to have grasped the fruitlessness of managing the NCP when it is not guaranteed a meaningful place in either the UDF or the Left Democratic Front. In Kerala’s polarised politics, a third front is likely to be squeezed into electoral insignificance and, in any case, it will not offer immediate returns. The homecoming is decidedly a sign of Mr. Karunakaran’s desperation. Nothing of political significance needs to be read into this unhappy reunion.

Corrections and Clarifications

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Signs of stability and maturity
Messy divorce, unhappy reunion
South Africa headed for leadership change?
Corruption has blighted Kenyan voters’ hopes
On dynastic politics
Communal mischief
Social threat
‘If in combating terrorism we undermine values, we are giving up too much’

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu