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Kerala
By Girish Menon
Mr. Muraleedharan's statements in the last two days since returning from Delhi indicates that the relations have reached a point of no return. His statements have also made it clear that he could no longer function above factional politics. Interestingly, Mr. Muraleedharan and Mr. Antony have not met each other since April 8 by which time it had become clear that the Congress would have a rebel in the fray for the Rajya Sabha election. The two met briefly during the concluding ceremony of the UDF convener, Oommen Chandy's `Kerala Raksha Yatra', but the occasion could hardly thaw the developing cold relations. Two important points that Mr. Muraleedharan made in his brief meeting with mediapersons this morning was indicative of the strained relations between the two. In reply to a question, Mr. Muraleedharan asserted that he did not have differences with the Chief Minister, though he summed it up by stating that there was no point in writing the horoscope of a dead child. Mr. Muraleedharan also brought up an issue which has been discussed only in the green room of Congress politics— Mr. Karunakaran's unceremonious ouster as Chief Minister way back in 1995. Mr. Muraleedharan said that the ouster of Mr. Karunakaran by a section in the Congress, with the help of some UDF partners was unjustified.'' What was the benefit the Congress got by changing the Chief Minister? Besides, the party has been a witness to several big mistakes in the past. However, new mistakes do not wipe off the old ones,'' he observed. The Chief Minister and the KPCC president shared one of the finest political ties during the last 22 months that the UDF has been in power. Never before had the Congress Legislature Party and the KPCC functioned with such unison. In fact, there were occasions when Mr. Muraleedharan had to take diametrically opposite position to that of his father. Many of Mr. Karunakaran's political moves, including the major ones intended to demand a Cabinet reshuffle and minor ones like getting his MLA supporters to petition the Chief Minister, were frustrated by Mr. Muraleedharan's position. Mr. Muraleedharan was the primary beneficiary of this cozy arrangement as it helped in acquiring the stature of a mature and sober political leader. The Karunakaran MLAs were finding it politically suffocating, caught as they were between their loyalty to Mr. Karunakaran and Mr. Muraleedharan. Mr. Karunakaran also encouraged his son to take opposing views so that his stature would grow, while at the same time promoted his daughter, Mrs. Padmaja Venugopal, to sustain his faction. What the Rajya Sabha elections did was to disrupt this working relations between the CLP leader and the KPCC president. The KPCC president has come under fire. One of the charges against him, mainly raised by the Third Group and the Fourth Group, is that he worked against the official candidates. Smelling the chance to grab political room space, they have been demanding his ouster from his post. Mr. Muraleedharan also did not hide his ire against these two groups. At today's informal chat with mediapersons, he said that the high command should also examine the history of those who were making such a demand. "As long as I sit in the KPCC president's chair, I will continue to function as per the high command's wishes,'' he added. He also emphasised the fact that the functioning of the Government had been paralysed as a result of the current developments, but hoped that things could be restored once the high command took a fair decision.
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