Southern States - Kerala   

Karunakaran caught between sibling rivalry

By Girish Menon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Sept. 28. The KPCC president, K. Muralidharan's show cause notice to Padmaja Venugopal is perhaps the biggest setback that the veteran Congress leader, K. Karunakaran, has received, next to his ouster as Chief Minister of the State way back in 1995.

The setback is not merely in terms of the message behind the disciplinary action sought to be conveyed by the party high command, but more in terms of the sibling rivalry that appears to be emerging in the Karunakaran camp.

Mr. Karunakaran continues to be a major force in Kerala and Congress politics, but it appears that the time has come for him to chose between the stability of his son's tenure as KPCC president and the growth of his daughter as a political leader. Mr. Muralidharan's show cause notice has upset Mr. Karunakaran no doubt, as it was an unexpected move. The most doubtful among his supporters have rallied behind him, but they too would have to make the choice sooner than later.

The current round of trouble in the Congress can be traced to the alleged attempts to oust a Minister in the Antony cabinet on the basis of a forged intelligence report. The Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, believes that the forged intelligence report was an attempt to topple his Government or even open up the question of reconstitution of his Cabinet. And the current investigation into the case revolves around the alleged involvement of Shobana George, an ardent Karunakaran supporter.

Mr. Karunakaran has in the meantime tried to capitalise on the current disaffection in the UDF to force a cabinet reshuffle. The Chief Minister believes that there is a motive behind these moves though Mr. Karunakaran has taken care to distance himself from the forged document case. It is in this context that the Congress high command has hardened its position in relation to factional activities or factions within factions that threaten the very stability of the Government led by the party.

From the UDF convener, Oommen Chandy's statements, it is clear that the party high command seriously viewed indiscipline which went to the extent of cooking up documents to oust a Minister or even challenge the authority of the KPCC president. Mrs Padmaja has been served with the notice for her defying the KPCC president's fiat on a merger of the INTUC-led union in the KSEB.

Mr. Muralidharan has hardly been given the option of soft-peddling on this kind of activity which undermined the existence of the Antony Government. In an interview to a vernacular daily, he has made it clear that he was opposed to certain people who do not hold any responsible position in the party emerging as power centres. What he did not mention was that he considered his sister, Padmaja Venugopal, as a rival power centre within the Karunakaran faction. According to Congress insiders, the unsaid part of the demand for a Cabinet reshuffle is the inclusion of Padmaja as a Minister.

For the last few years, Mr. Karunakaran has been making several attempts to carve out a political space for his daughter also, but these has not been acceptable to the other factions, which have fought against the "dynastic ambitions'' of the veteran.

The attitude of the Congress High Command has undergone a change even though it has handled party affairs in Kerala on the principle of factional accommodation. It has clearly thrown its full weight behind Mr. Antony and made it clear that it did not want to disturb him. It does not want the current round of factional feuds to undermine the Antony Government.

It has given a free hand to the KPCC president to take action against reckless factional activity and indiscipline. It is also significant to note that disciplinary action against MLAs have been brought under the purview of the AICC and this might have larger implications in future.

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