Kerala Congress unity efforts off

By Our Staff Reporter

KOTTAYAM. FEB. 16. The unity efforts in the Kerala Congress are off.

Speaking to presspersons here today, the Kerala Congress (Joseph) leader and Minister for Education, Mr. P.J. Joseph, made it clear that unity outside the Left coalition was the least possible option.

The only chance of effecting unity outside the LDF is when the Kerala Congress(M) too steps down from its coalition. With both the parties stepping down from their respective coalitions, unity can be effected, he said. ``Then the unified Kerala Congress can take a decision as to which coalition it should align with,'' he said.

The new stance taken by Mr. Joseph is diametrically opposite to what the Kerala Congress(M) had been demanding right from the beginning of the unity talks. The Mani faction had always maintained that it would not come out of the UDF, and for unity, Mr. Joseph and his colleagues have to come out of the Left Front. In fact, this was the first open statement made by Mr. Mani ever since the unity efforts commenced a few weeks ago.

While it may appear that Mr. Joseph has introduced a new element in his dialogues with Mani the faction, the theory that both the parties should step down from their respective coalitions had been the original premises on which the unity efforts began a few months back. This was after the Panchayat Raj elections and both the factions were equally peeved at the conduct of their respective leading partners - Mr. Joseph at the CPI(M) and Mr. Mani at the Congress.

The Kerala Congress (Joseph) was almost wiped out from its flagship constituency, Thodupuzha, and the party believed that the local CPI(M) had a hand in the outcome. They were also peeved at the fact that the entire blame for the loss of face for the LDF in the elections was being targeted at them.

On the other hand, the Kerala Congress (M) too had its cup of woes overflowing. It believed that armed with an unexpected victory at the panchayat raj elections, the Congress was playing big brother. The immediate reason for the stand off between the Kerala Congress(M) and the Congress was the move by the latter to field its own candidate as the president of the Kottayam district panchayat, whom they got elected ultimately. More painful to them was the claim made by a section of the Congress leadership to the effect that the Kerala Congress(M) was only the third-largest party in the district after the CPI(M) and the Congress. Later, Mr. Mani had his sweet revenge when his party registered a brilliant victory in the second phase of the panchayat raj elections.

But the Congress stance was a great learning experience for Mr. Mani. If the UDF came back in the ensuing elections and that too with a comfortable majority, he and his party colleagues could never hope to get a decent accommodation, he feared. More serious was the fact that unless he did have a critical mass of MLAs with him, he would have to suffer and sulk without raising even a whimper.

It was against this scenario that the unity efforts began in earnest. Talks which registered healthy progress in the initial stage took a sudden turn when the LDF image plummeted in the wake of the hooch tragedy which killed over 35 persons. Ever since Mr. Mani had made it clear that any efforts in unity could be achieved only within the confines of the UDF.

The crucial turning point came when the State Cabinet cancelled the NOC for 32 engineering colleges, in the private sector in the absence of the Education Minister. Ever since, the talks were progressing at a healthy pace at the highest level and last Friday the chances of unity brightened up when Mr. Joseph made it clear the primary objective was unity.

However, the happy days were shortlived as a few days later Mr. Joseph himself told presspersons that there was no reason to come out of the Left front at present. Mr. Joseph's statement today that unity outside the Left front was almost out of question, is only the logical culminations of his Pathanamthitta statement.

On Friday, Mr. Joseph also expressed confidence that the engineering college issue would be resolved amicably.

While it may appear that the only tangible result of the month- long parleys in unity efforts is a loss of face for the Kerala Congress (Joseph), the main faction too has lost a great opportunity to emerge as a major player in the State's politics.

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