Tuesday, Dec 24, 2002
Tuesday, Dec 24, 2002 |
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Kerala
By George Jacob
This is after a gap of nearly seven years that a Congress Chief Minister is being invited to the portals of NSS headquarters. Ever since the ill-fated incidents that occurred during the visit of the then Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, in 1995, the NSS, which was instrumental in the birth of the UDF through its political arm, the National Democratic Party (NDP), had distanced itself from the coalition. It also happened that these developments coincided with the exit of the senior Congress leader, K. Karunakaran, from the Chief Ministership and the rise of A.K. Antony in the party. During the 1996 elections, the NDP came out of the UDF making a call to defeat the coalition under the leadership of Mr. Antony. The NSS proved its mettle when the LDF was voted to power. However, during the Parliament elections that followed, the NSS, for the first time, evolved the politically potent theory of `equi-distance' from both political coalitions in the State, which allowed it to support select candidates, whether they belonged to the LDF or the UDF. The new positioning, in spite of this political correctness in theory, was definitely a boon to the LDF. However, in addition to gaining more flexibility in Kerala politics, the new theory had also helped the NSS to exert more influence in the internal equilibrium of the Congress. The organisation expressed its preference for a beleaguered Karunakaran when it invited him to unveil a statue of Mannathu Padmanabhan at Vaikom 1998, almost resurrecting him from the depths of political oblivion. However, things took a turn then onwards and by the turn of the century, the NSS had distanced itself from its long-time ally, Mr. Karunakaran, who, according to NSS leaders, was using his connections with the organisation to tilt the developments within the party to his own end. The new equation reached between the NSS and the so-alled `third group' in the Congress, all the same keeping its theory of `equi-distance' in tact, appears to have played a crucial role, in addition to other factors, in getting the UDF back to power during the last elections. Ever since, Mr. Antony had been trying to coy up to the NSS. The UDF decisions in the education sector, especially providing the majority community institutions a level-playing ground in the self-financing stream, the decisive stand taken in the case of professional colleges following the Supreme Court verdict, etc. were a clear signal to the NSS. In fact, the Chief Minister went to the extent of visiting uninvited, the NSS headquarters on January 1, 2002. The personal commitment of Mr. Antony in the relationship was evident when, a few weeks ago, he visited the NSS assistant secretary, G. Sukumaran Nair's wife who was convalescing after a surgery and spent more than an hour with the couple. For Mr. Antony, this may be his second stop after Sivagiri to render his public `mia culpa' for the `misdeeds' of his earlier term, but by turning a new chapter in the relationship, the NSS has signalled its approach and internal chemistry to many issues to leaders of all political hues. Others who have been invited to the Jayanthi Semmelan are the Speaker, Vakkom Purushothaman, the local MP and CPI(M) leader, K. Suresh Kurup, and Kotangal Abdul Gafoor Moulavi, the Puthur Palli Imam.
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