O J's Corner ----- ENEMY WITHIN

The functioning of a new government should not be vetted harshly for the first 100 days.That is the convention in a democratic polity. Therefore, what follows has nothing to do with the "sins of commission or omission" of the V S Achuthanandan Ministry in Kerala, for it has not even got seated properly.
However, there is no harm in referring to the machinations surrounding the allocation of portfolios, largely relating to the CPM.

The honeymoon has not even begun, but it has to be poignantly observed that the Ministry has not reflected the confidence reposed in the LDF by millions of people.

By definition, it is the prerogative of the Chief Minister by West Minster system, to choose his colleagues in the Cabinet and decide who should do what. But in practice, in a party set-up, there would be consultations and resultant consensus to decide the Cabinet framework. This is all the more necessary in coalition governance.

All the same, the Chief Minister is given much leeway to select his colleagues so that his Ministry can effectively discharge the functions without hiccups from mischief-mongers.

It is true Achuthanandan was not the whiz kid for Chief Ministership at the instance of the CPM party secretariat dominated by his rival group. He could don the mantle only at the instance of the politburo, which had to take cognizance of the massive mandate fetched by VS.

The developments leading to VS Shining have been imbued with theatrics. He has not been the wonder boy even for the politburo as he had disregarded the advice of the PB at the Malampuzha Party Congress. By a clever move, all the PB members were debarred from contesting the Assembly elections. This was aimed at precluding VS, whose graph began climbing up at the people's court. Actually, this resulted in being the trump card for VS' victory.

Initially, many of the arm-chair PB members thought that the script for VS' eclipse has already been written and that the rival group would manage to pull off without him. For in the CPM, when one remains felled, there is no rejuvenation. K R Gowri Amma and M V Raghavan are clear examples. They could continue in politics only because of the UDF, which benefited from their experience.

Achuthanandan has not much say at the party state secretariat and state committee levels, but he is liked by the cadre.

The dare-devil way he crafted the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption portfolio for himself emphasizes his conviction to rule by his conscience and not at the dictates of the party state secretariat in toto. Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan may differ. He wants the Chief Minister to toe the line of the party.

Apparently, there was an understanding at the PB level that the Home Portfolio woud be given over to the rival group. There was no clarity about Vigilance and Anti-corruption.

Without hesitation, the Chief Minister delegated this function to himself. The next politburo meeting, to be held at Kolkata on May 27 and 28, would be apprised of the "delinquency" of VS, but by then it would be fait accompli, and the Chief Minister would carry the day.

The current exercises at power politics are all right for the players, but the people at large would not be amused. They want clear results.