The Kerala Political Scenario

Oommen Chandy is back as Chief Minister of Kerala and ready to lead the State to where he did five years ago – a landslide victory for the Left. In the recent election the surprise result was that the Congress and the UDF slipped from boasting of a 100 seat victory to a miserably narrow margin. Three people are mainly responsible for this verdict – Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and VS Achuthanandan.  

The Achuthanandan government was a failure mainly because of the infighting in the CPI (M) and lack of experience of some ministers. But the former CM is a fighter. I have personally suffered because of his vettinirathal (scorched earth) policy some years ago. Also, in my opinion, Communism is an outmoded concept. But I do appreciate VS Achuthanandan’s leadership and determination.

  

I believe that this is a true event. During the Chinese War, VS was locked up in Poojappura Jail, Trivandrum, along with many Communist leaders. He committed a “great crime” by donating blood for the Indian soldiers. For this he was demoted from the Central Committee of the Communist Party to the State Committee. During his tenure as Kerala CM also he was relegated from the Polit Bureau (PB) due to pressure from the Party’s officialdom in the State.  In the last two elections, VS was initially denied seat. Finally the State unit had to give in because the party men wanted him. And Achuthanandan became the star.

State CPM leaders are still reluctant to acknowledge Achuthanandan’s contribution to the Party’s unexpectedly good performance. The Left had written off any hope in the election. Then one man stood erect and announced that LDF would win. He put the message across so effectively that the demoralized Comrades started believing him and waking up. They worked so hard that CPI (M) almost won.

What happened to the Congress? The overconfident leaders failed to galvanize the party members. Two aspirants for Chief Ministership first made sure that Central Minister Vayalar Ravi’s chance is blocked. They were sure that VM Sudheeran would only talk and not get into the act.

Then the question was Oommen Chandy or Chennithala? This adversely affected the Congress at every stage of the election process. The people of Kerala did not appreciate both of them contesting the election. People knew that both aspired the CM's post. Finally Oommen Chandy got the apple and Chennithala put up an unhappy looking brave face. The former also let fly a statement that Hindu consolidation against UDF was worrying. What does that mean?   If there was such a move shouldn’t the two leaders have realized it before the election?

One of the first acts of the new CM was to reportedly interfere in the Kannur University affairs. It is said that he wrote to the Governor who is the Chancellor that something was wrong with the University administration. It is doubtful whether he bothered to check the reality. His Congress people went on the war path and locked the Vice Chancellor in his room.  

The demand of the Congress was most ridiculous. They wanted a written undertaking from the Vice Chacellor that the University would obey the verdict of the Kerala High Court in a case that is going on about the technicality of an appointment. May be they didn’t know that every Indian is duty bound to abide by court judgements. They themselves were breaking the law and court judgements at that point of time.

The CPM is already on the war path. The Vigilance Department has been instructed by the Government to re-investigate a case against a ministerial nominee even though the charge sheet has been already filed and the matter is before the court. The Left is protesting. 

The list of Ministers has been finalized. The sad part is that a most suitable man is dropped – VD Satishan who scored a remarkable victory over Panyan Ravindran, the CPI leader at N. Parur in the recent election. The TV debate in which he so thoroughly humbled Thomas Isaac would be remembered for long by those who saw it. He is outstanding among the present lot of Congress men of Kerala. A strong, capable newcomer could be a challenge to those in comfortable positions. Therefore nip him in the bud or sidetrack him with Speaker post or something like that.

The Left of course is waiting. They seem to be confident that this Government would not last for long. Back to the polls? Or cross over of some from UDF to LDF? But the tension within the LDF might help the UDF. If Oommen Chandy makes a mess, Ramesh Chennithala might get a chance contribute his bit. Till the next elections.

God save God's own country.

     

Do some people think the Mallus are dumb?

Yesterday the by-elections to three Kerala State Assembly constituencies, Alleppey, Ernakulam and Kannur, were concluded peacefully.

So what is there to write about?

Well, the Kannur segment attracted national attention. There were accusations of tailored voter list and pro-government bias by officials including the District Collector who is the Election Officer as well. The Congress Party petitioned the Election Commission (EC).

After studying reports from the State the EC replaced the Collector. It also decided to send a contingent of Central paramilitary forces to ensure smooth and fair elections. This is a normal practice in the case of suspected problem constituencies.

Many people were surprised, or even shocked, by the way the Marxist Party reacted to the EC’s action. The Chief Minister himself started the diatribe. According to media reports he said that the Central forces would be confined to the barracks and they would not be able to do anything without the permission of the State police.

The Home Minister, the CPI (M) State General Secretary and other leaders of the party took up the refrain. The EC was also blamed for being partial. The Chief Electoral Officer of The State, an IAS officer of the Kerala cadre promptly issued a clarification that the men in uniform would be deployed at the discretion of the EC. Later the EC also came out with a statement that even the State police would be taking orders from the Election Officer. That is the correct legal position.

The Central forces were posted at the polling booths as decided by the Election Officer. There was record polling in Kannur and no untoward incidents. Many felt that the presence of the paramilitary forces contributed to this. The Left leaders have a contrary view. Their interpretation is that the 'attempt' of the Congress to frighten away voters with gun totting soldiers in the polling booths did not succeed! Politicians are not sensitive to loss of face.

It is difficult to believe that the Chief Minister and the others who attacked the EC were unaware of the established procedure. Then why did they make such apparently wrong statements? Did it amount to taking anticipatory bail for a possible defeat? Or, did they expect to draw more votes with a policy of confrontation with the EC?

If the voters really swallowed the confrontation propaganda one can only say that, contrary to the general belief, they are not really very politically savvy.

We have to wait till Tuesday to get the answer.

Related post:

Kerala: Left with empty granaries

Kerala politics: Confused Comrades

Can you think of an Indian being punished in India for donating blood to Indian soldiers? Sometimes the Communists do such things. They have their own logic, though people outside the organization may not comprehend it.

The Communists have been active in India for 80 years. Their professed motive of uplifting the downtrodden was, and continues to be, commendable. The people’s struggle, they call it. And India is a country with a colossal population of oppressed people – apparently an ideal ground for effectively proving the Communist doctrine.

Yet, in eight decades what has happened to the movement? It has managed to consolidate in a few isolated locations and even that position appears to be rather shaky now. Their vote share in the National elections is about 5 or 6%.

What brought about this situation? The Comrades failed to identify who ‘the people’ are and what problems they face. A fraction of organized workers do not represent the people of India; they are among the fortunate few. There is a suffering India from which the high flying leaders seem to be far removed.

One hoped that with the battering they took in the recent Parliament elections the Comrades, particularly the CPI (M), would objectively analyze the causes and take corrective steps. All their recent policies, starting with scuttling the proposal to make Jyothi Basu the Prime Minister, to the much touted Third Front and election strategies turned out to be fiascoes.

Further, in the recent months the major asset the Communists had – the conviction that they would always fight corruption and communalism – was unnecessarily compromised. A different approach and choice words, particularly in the Lavelin case which was committed to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Kerala High Court, would have given the Party much more credibility.

I have personally known, and in several cases genuinely respected some of the Communist leaders of yesteryears, including EMS Namboodiripad. For me it is sad to see the chaos created by the Party’s present bosses.

Instead of tackling the real problems facing the Party, the CPI (M) has reduced them to the struggle between VS Achudanandan (VS), Chief Minister of Kerala, and the State’s Party Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan. Disciplinary action has been taken against VS by demoting him from the Polit Bureau (PB). But he is allowed to continue as Chief Minister. The Party Secretary goes unscathed.

Does any one really believe that this solution would effectively solve the problems of the Party? In this process, have the Marxists lost or forgotten or buried the national perspective?

The action presents a strange juxtaposition. VS would be chairing the meetings of the Council of Ministers but he would be outranked by the Home Minister who is a Member of the PB. Who will have the final word in explaining the policies of the government to the people? The Chief Minister or the Home Minister?

A brief note on VS: I have personally suffered as a result of his ‘vettinirathal’ (scorched earth) policy in the 1990s, which saw party activists destroying agricultural crops on reclaimed lands though I have not done any reclamation. But one has to admit that, even at the age of 86, he is a fighter. He may lack finesse, but he is an icon for the party cadre. His fights against corruption have projected him as a hero.

VS was carrying the Red Flag and fighting for the Communist cause before some of the kings and kingmakers of the Party today were born. He was a victim of severe police brutality. It is said that once the authorities were about to bury him, thinking he was dead from the torture inflicted on him. He is one of the few surviving leaders from among those who formed the CPI (M) in 1964.

In 1962, during the Chinese War, VS was jailed along with other Left leaders. While in prison he donated blood for the war effort. That was against the then Party policy and, as punishment, he was demoted from the Central Committee.

Strange are the ways of some political parties.

Also see:

Kerala: Left with empty granaries

Kerala: It’s different

About five million trucks are off the roads in India. The indefinite strike is in response to a call by the All India Motor Transport Congress to protest the rise in diesel cost, prices, taxes and what not. In a country where 70% of goods traffic is by road, its impact on the economy is enormous.

But truckers of one state are not taking part in this agitation. Can you guess which that state is?

Well it is Kerala, God’s own country. The reason? The obvious answer would be that the Keralites have high literacy rate, are intelligent, and therefore are quick to understand the adverse effects of such a strike. May be.

Then again maybe people require an occasional holiday from even hartals. In the month of June, Kerala had 25 hartals (bandhs, shut downs) either across the state or in some localities. Or so says the media. In addition, the month had five Sundays.

In a way, hartals have some plus points. Which country gives its people so many paid holidays? And, in Kerala, it is a tourist attraction as well. The hartals and the allied activities like slogan shouting processions, stone throwing and grappling with the police do carry some amount of interest to foreigners in spite of the inconvenience.

That reminds me of a story that goes around in the hospitality trade. A few years back an enterprising tour operator organized a Moscow group’s visit to Kerala to see public display of pictures of Stalin. Icons sometimes migrate to safer locations.

But, as far as tourists are concerned, the Keralite does not forget his civic sense even during traffic-stopping hartals. If there is a white skin in a vehicle on the road, all that the driver has to say is ‘Tourist’ and the car would be waved on.

The month of July is not likely to be different. This morning when I called Cochin, my grandson had not gone to school because of hartal. Credit for it goes to the BJP. At issue is a controversial land allocation in Kashmir. Perhaps that will induce the students to learn more about Kashmir. Nothing is as bad as it appears to be initially.

Keralites who read this, don’t be worried. The state, in its own way, will carry on despite all these thamashas.

Ends.

Also see:

Kerala: Of monkeys and nuts

Caste System: Is Kerala still a madhouse?

Usha Uthup & Kerala Marxists

You might wonder what the connection is. Well, it’s like this. A top Communist leader was trying to control his party workers who were creating a ruckus at the concluding session of the Kerala CPI (M) State convention at Kottayam last week. In the process he said words to the effect that it was not an Usha Uthup gamamela (musical performance) for the participants to behave in that manner.

From the 1960s I have attended several performances by Usha, the ‘Queen of Indian Pop’. At none of them the crowd behaved like the comrades did at Kottayam. Usha can move her listeners and they love her, respond to her. That has been going on for decades. Once, at a Bangalore performance which I attended, she asked the Governor who was present to clap along with the audience and he did. It was all very dignified. This famous singer has rendered songs in 14 Indian languages and several foreign languages.

Usha took exception to the Red leader’s statement. She said that for forty years she has been singing all over the world and her listeners have been always decent and well behaved. As one could expect, the politician came out with a rather stretched explanation.

The State meet of the CPI (M) was well organized and quite interesting. There was strong criticism of the performance of the Chief Minister and ministers. The Party found a solution to the problem too - entrust the same people with the same jobs. To be done in the same manner? Well, one has to wait and see. The Party is to issue guidelines on how to run the Government. At least the Budget presentation and governance, which were put on hold for the Party’s convention, would be reactivated now.

In spite of being active in India from the 1920s, the Communists rule only West Bengal and Tripura, and Kerala at alternate elections. Prakash Karat, General Secretary of CPI (M) said in an interview given to the Malayala Manorama (see issue dated February 7) that he would not be satisfied till his party becomes an All India Party.

Ends.
Photos from Usha Uthup’s website http://www.ushauthup.com/
Also see: Un-ploughed lies my land

Follow up

The Chicken & Egg Story

The Minister who made the now famous ‘eggs and chicken’ statement (See: Kerala: A Minister’s magic solution to food shortage) has come out with a clarification. He said some newspapers (I suppose he meant papers not owned by the Left Front) misquoted him. Unfortunately for him his Party’s General Secretary also condemned the statement. But that again could be based on ‘wrong reports’.

The ‘media mafia’ which is always for the bourgeois against the poor proletariat seem to be specializing in wrong reporting.

Now I am wondering whether there is something wrong with my eyes, ears and brain. I watched the clips of the Minister’s speech on different TV news bulletins. Did I see right, hear right and think right? Who knows?

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Police woman bashing

A quo warranto writ was filed in the Kerala High Court stating that the two ministers who went to the Police Station allegedly to release the woman accused of slapping a lady constable in public (See Quo Vadis, Kerala?) have flouted the Oath of Office.. The petition has been rejected. The reported reason? The Police Department filed an affidavit stating that the ministers did not put any pressure on the police to release the accused; they went there only to meet their Party Secretary.

There certainly cannot be a law against someone meeting his boss at a Police Station or wherever. Why the boss was there is a different matter.

Also see: Savage Kerala

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Globalization hits the courts too?

A Kerala Minister who is famous for announcing daily dozes of wisdom to his people has reportedly said yesterday the courts did not do justice to the State’s Education Policy because globalization is influencing the judiciary as well. He quickly added that his respect for the courts is101%.

No complaints from me because I have only 100% respect for the judiciary.

Also see: Contempt of Court - express your views

Ends.