Southern States
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Kerala
Another Cong. showdown imminent
By Girish Menon
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 22. Various factions in the Congress are getting ready for another showdown. And this time, it is likely to paralyse the smooth functioning of the UDF Government. For the last several months, the relations in the Congress have been uneasy with the senior leader, K. Karunakaran, losing no opportunity to deride the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, and exposing the chinks in his administrative armour. Disregarding his age, Mr. Karunakaran has toured almost all the districts, mobilising partymen.
And during these tours, he sharpened his criticism of the UDF Government, focusing his attention on the functioning of the police. He has trained his guns on the Finance Minister, K. Sankaranarayanan, a staunch loyalist of Mr. Antony, demanding a probe into the poultry controversy. He did not spare the Government for its decision to curtail some of the benefits enjoyed by government employees and teachers.
Mr. Antony has chosen to ignore Mr. Karunakaran all this while, content at the support he has sought and received from Mr. Karunakaran's son and KPCC president, K. Muraleedharan.
Factionalism had been centered around sharing of the spoils of office so far, with various groups jostling for more playing space. But the rules of the game are now being changed, it seems. Mr. Antony's allegation at a press conference yesterday implicating Congressmen and IUML workers in the recent communal clashes at Marad and Pathanamthitta has given a new dimension to the faction fight.
Mr. Antony perceives that his detractors are responsible for creating communal problems. He has approached some of the law and order issues, beginning from the arrest of the Kozhikode DCC president to the latest Marad violence, as if these were the making of his detractors. From his rather unusual press conference, it is clear that Mr. Antony, even while avoiding a direct confrontation with Mr. Karunakaran, has chosen to hit out at his detractors.
Mr. Karunakaran has reportedly taken objection to the Chief Minister's views, which, he feels, are exaggerated and only an attempt to divert the attention of the people from the burning issues the UDF Government is facing and cover up its shortcomings. Communal clashes have taken place before and it is possible that some of the party workers would have been involved. But Mr. Karunakaran feels it would be wrong to exaggerate this point and put the blame on party workers just to cover up the shortcomings.
That the differences were widening became clear when the various factions failed to arrive at a settlement regarding the DCC revamp. The wrangling over numbers could be bewildering for the uninitiated, but it appears that there is a clear move to tether the KPCC president to the post by giving him little playing space to make the party functional.
Mr. Karunakaran left for Delhi this afternoon and would be meeting the AICC president, Sonia Gandhi, with his list of complaints and protestations. There have been times when the father and son appeared to be taking opposing views on various issues. But such differences have proved to be an advantage, with the father-son duo succeeding in creating divisions in the Antony camp.
The most difficult aspect of Congress factionalism is that it has started affecting the State administration. The Chief Minister, despite the strong majority his party enjoys in the Assembly, is becoming increasingly dependent on the two senior partners, the IUML and the Kerala Congress(M). He has alienated himself from some of his own staunch loyalists like Aryadan Mohammed and V.M. Sudheeran, while another section is smarting under the short shrift given to them. The only saving grace for Mr. Antony is that he has been able to keep his credibility rating in tact.
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