Antony emerging as natural choice

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MAY 14. The Congress Working Committee member, Mr. A. K. Antony, who till recently was the Leader of the Opposition, has emerged as the natural choice for the Chief Minister's post. An urgent meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) has been convened for tomorrow. It would be held soon after the separate meeting the AICC observers, Mr. Motilal Vohra and Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, would hold with the elected Congress MLAs.

According to indications, the swearing-in ceremony of the Chief Minister and his team could take place any time after the CLP completes the process of electing its leader. The other senior leaders of the UDF partners are scheduled to be in the capital on Tuesday and ratification of the CLP leader's election would be a mere formality.

The decks for his selection has almost been cleared by the comprehensive mandate for the UDF and the Congress which nearly equaled a 35-year-old-record in terms of number of seats it could win ever since the coalition system became the mainstay of Kerala politics.

The credit for the victory goes to both Mr. A. K. Antony and Mr. Karunakaran and all other leaders who agreed to sink their differences. But specific mention should be made with regard to Mr. Antony's positions as he went all out to accommodate Mr. Karunakaran even at the cost of personal insult and political embarrassment.

Mr. Antony took the great risk of contesting from Cherthala knowing fully well that the political atmosphere in the constituency was not entirely in his favour. In the panchayat elections, the LDF had virtually swamped the local bodies in the constituency with a clear lead of 3,000 votes. Yet, he dared to contest from the seat reposing his faith on the people of his native land.

Mr. Antony and Mr. Karunakaran did not even in their wildest dreams think that the UDF would beat all previous records. But the huge majority has come as an inconvenience in their respective agenda. Mr. Karunakaran's decision to opt out of the race is a tacit acceptance of the fact that emerging situation is loaded against him. The huge majority leaves hardly any room for manoeuver to make a bid for the CM's post.

Had the number been anywhere between 75 and 80, Mr. Karunakaran would have been in a position to open the leadership issue. Besides, Mr. Karunakaran appears to have realised that the attitude of the party high command was not exactly in his favour, despite the fact that he succeeded in getting three of his nominees elected from the three contentious seats which were wrested just days before the electioneering officially began. At the end of the day, Mr. Karunakaran could very well feel satisfied that he had succeeded in establishing his faction's credentials as a strong factor in Congress politics.

With the political wind not exactly in his favour, the best alternative before Mr. Karunakaran is to ensure that the status quo is maintained with Mr. Antony taking over the Chief Minister's post and a nominee of his faction, read Mr. Muraleedharan, taking over the KPCC.

Mr. Karunakaran has demanded that the party leadership should announce the nominees for the PCC and the Chief Minister's post simultaneously. The AICC observers do not expect any problem with regard to these two issues. But more problems await the UDF leadership in terms of fixing the size of the cabinet. This is likely to emerge as a major headache mainly because the list of aspirants is too long.

Unlike in 1996, the UDF has expanded with the addition of one more partner, the RSP(B) and the JSS. The coalition partners are expected to ensure that the 1991 status quo is maintained in relation to the sharing of ministerial berths. The IUML had four Ministers at that time, the Kerala Congress groups of Mr. Mani and Mr. Jacob and the CMP one each. The Congress cannot sacrifice much as it has to ensure sufficient number of berths to its nominees especially in the context of the magic number of 62 MLAs.

Things are likely to gather more pace in the next few days. Mr. Antony is expected to be back after his thanks-giving tour in Cherthala. Mr. Karunakaran is slated to be back by tomorrow after his monthly Guruvayoor darshan. The UDF partners are expected to elect their respective legislature party leaders, who would naturally be in the line if the swearing-in ceremony does take place during the course of the week.

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Section  : Southern States
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