THE STATES

A veteran's challenge

R. KRISHNAKUMAR
in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram

The faction feud in the Kerala unit of the Congress(I) seems to be heading towards a showdown as the party high command postpones a decision and the rival factions make aggressive moves in the numbers game.

THE reckless political circus in the Kerala unit of the Congress(I), which had the A.K. Antony government on tenterhooks ever since its inauguration in May 2001, once again pushed it to the brink in the end of November 2003.

VIPIN CHANDRAN

K. Karunakaran addressing his faction's rally in Kochi on November 19.

Barely a week earlier, the dissident party leader and former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran let go of an opportunity to convert a mammoth `I' group factional rally in Kochi into an occasion to announce formally a split in the party, as his supporters had indicated he would, if the party leadership failed to remove A.K. Antony from the Chief Minister's post by November 19.

Instead, at the unprecedented event, significantly named `Indira (Gandhi) birth anniversary rally' and marked by the singular absence of posters and slogans supporting party president Sonia Gandhi, Karunakaran made a deliberately disjointed speech, peppering it with frequent invocations to the "Muslim brethren" in the rally and reminding them of how Antony, who had used the Congress(I) platform to speak against the minorities , was still surviving as head of a coalition government (of which the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) too was a part). But, though he stopped short of announcing a split, Karunakaran did not mince words in making his intentions obvious. The following are some significant excerpts from his speech:

"When Indiraji, who became the leader of millions of people of this country, seized the leadership of the Congress and said there was a split in the party, the people had said, `No, the Congress is where Indira is'. So we are with Indira. That is where the Congress is. Antony is alone. I know where Indira's soul is. That is where the people of Kerala and India are."

"I will not remain a spectator when people try to destroy the Indian National Congress. I will go forward with enthusiasm. This is a minimum programme. More will follow. Today's minimum programme is to change the leadership of the present government."

"One person can save the Congress... in a minute. That is Soniaji. No one else can do it... I say this before the lakhs and lakhs of people before me today that we will make him (Antony) resign. We will oust him. There is no compromise on that. There will be no `settlement' instead of that. We will withdraw only after this demand is accepted. No one need expect that this will be prolonged indefinitely. We will renew our efforts after Ramzan. Allah will help us. I am saying this in the month of Ramzan, with my prayers. Allah will help us. God will help us. Jesus, please bless us."

"This tricolour... we need not change this flag. The flag will become ours. The flag we hold is the one held by Panditji. The one held by Indiraji. The one I hold now. It does not belong to anyone else. It will be our flag. I will hold it till the very end. So all of you must come forward to strengthen the Congress for its unity. You will understand what I am asking you to do. At this age... no one need have any doubt, tomorrow I will be with all of you to force Antony out. I will not be a party to the butchering of the Indian National Congress."

"(The Chief Minister has accused me) of trying to forge an understanding with the CPI(M), that Karunakaran is trying to sell the Congress to the `Marxist Party'. We all know about his new-found love for the Congress. In Andhra Pradesh, the Congress has joined hands with the `Marxist Party'. Since I could foresee it before Antony did, it is true that I raised it before Antony."

"I say this before lakhs of party workers, no one will dare harm the Congress any longer, especially Antony. I will show them their place and marginalise them. Didn't the `Marxist Party' change its policy? It will (do so), again. In the name of honourable Indira Gandhi I request all of you to take this struggle forward. That movement representing the Indian National Congress, whatever may be its name, will hold afloat the tricolour and surge forward under Indiraji's leadership."

H. VIBHU

Chief Minister A.K. Antony.

Evidently, though the November 19 rally renewed the possibility of a new party and a realignment of political forces in Kerala, Karunakaran seemed to indicate that aligning with the CPI(M)-led Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) was still only a third option before him. He preferred Sonia Gandhi to "read the writing on the wall", as he suggested pointing to the massive turnout at the Marine Drive grounds in Kochi, and effect a leadership change in the State. Or, if that failed, he still seemed to nurture hopes of making the Congress(I)'s coalition partners put pressure on the party high command to replace Antony - for, otherwise, it would not be a smooth running for the State government for the rest of its term too and there was hardly a year left for the Lok Sabha elections.

Karunakaran's son and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee(I) president K. Muraleedharan did attend the group rally and, to the surprise of many, attacked Antony and his government in his speech. There were also last-minute posters all over Kochi proclaiming Karunakaran's daughter K. Padmaja Venugopal as the "Future of Congress". However, Karunakaran did put a damper on those who expected him to make a formal announcement about a split in the party. The reason was not hard to find. Despite the impressive show of strength, Karunakaran could not bring on stage more Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) than the 21 who had already pledged support to him. (Two MLAs had left his group on the eve of the rally.)

It was obvious that the "future of the Congress in Kerala" was more or less in the game of numbers that would be played in the days that followed, with the Congress(I) high command, under Antony's advice, refusing to acknowledge Karunakaran's November 19 deadline to avoid a split in the party and claiming that the problems in the State unit could only be dealt with after the elections in the Delhi and three northern States, scheduled for December 1.

THE UDF came to power in Kerala in May 2001 winning 100 of the 140 seats in the State Assembly. With the LDF announcing that it would react positively to Karunakaran's initiatives to topple the "anti-people" Antony government and that its 40 MLAs were "like a fixed deposit that Karunakaran can use for this purpose" provided the alternative arrangement he envisaged "did not have the Muslim League in it", Karunakaran's post-Ramzan efforts focussed on trying to present a list of MLAs supporting him to Governor Sikander Bakht.

Karunakaran did claim the support of 34 MLAs on November 21. Antony responded by accusing that his detractors were trying to take Kerala to the days of "Aya Rams and Gaya Rams" and Speaker Vakkom Purushothaman alleged that "an MLA in Kerala today was worth Rs.1 crore". But even a week later Karunakaran seemed unsure of going to the Governor with such a claim, unable, surely, to muster the promised number and force the government down. On November 26, even pro-Karunakaran coalition partners such as the Kerala Congress groups led by Ministers T.M. Jacob and R. Balakrishna Pillai announced that their MLAs "were not in Karunakaran's list of 34". Apparently, they, like the Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samiti (JSS), would join Karunakaran only if and when he proved that he had enough numbers to form a new government. Until then they were not willing to take a risk. Some partners, like the Communist Marxist Party, led by Minister M.V. Raghavan, were categorical that they would not support the moves to topple the government. The Kerala Congress (Mani), whose candidate was facing a byelection at Tiruvalla on December 1, was non-committal, though its pro-Antony stand was not in question, at least in the initial stages, with the Karunakaran faction actively campaigning for the LDF candidate. That left the IUML, whose leaders seemed to have no love lost for Antony, with a crucial say on the question of change of leadership, if at all, as the Congress(I) high command wanted it after December 1.

But such a development was not to the liking of the LDF, which did not want Karunakaran to postpone a decision until after the Congress high command made up its mind at its own leisure. Reports that LDF leaders had told the Karunakaran faction that its offer of support would not be allowed to be used as a bargaining chip to settle the issue within the Congress(I) itself were not denied by both sides.

At the time of going to press, still unable to get a large enough number of MLAs to support his venture, Karunakaran could only wait for the party high command to take a decision and then try to use the coalition partners to bend it to his advantage. Otherwise, as he had demonstrated earlier, he would not leave Antony and his government alone and would continue to challenge the party leadership to take action against him. Splitting away from the Congress(I) without toppling the government would be his last option, as Karunakaran has indicated time and again.

December promises to be an uncertain period for the eight-party coalition government led by Antony, which has very little to boast of about its two and a half years in office.

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