Will politics in Kerala be the same after a fortnight?

By O J George
Kottayam: Sweeping political developments are on the way in Kerala. The CPM-led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front cannot remain static in the light of various issues coming to the fore.

The CPM is a boiling cauldron, with Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan ostensibly leading a fight against corruption on the one hand and state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan holding the party apparatus within his fist.Nobody can make an inroad into his influence in the organisational set-up in the state. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has been forced to toe his line more or less.

Whatever be the decisions coming out of the deliberations in the central committee meeting on July 11 and 12, the party is not going to be the same again.

LDF partners are not happy about the ways of the CPM, for the partners are not consulted on key issues. Decisions are thrust on them for concurrence.CPI general secretary A.B.Bardhan has been airing his strong views against the high-handedness of the CPM in West Bengal and Kerala where the leftists had to bite the dust in the Lok Sabha polls.

It seems the CPI is not happy about the move to take action against Achuthanandan. But it is yet to be seen what sort of action the CPI will take if things take a serious turn after the CPM CC meetings.

Janata Dal(S) is a divided lot. Last time when Deve Gowda hobnobbed with the BJP in Karnataka, Kerala’s M.P.Veerendra Kumar could simply take out the state unit from the Gowda bandwagon.

Now things are different. Veerendra Kumar has brute majority in the state organisation. But two MLAs are with the LDF.Ultimately, Veerendra Kumar has to move towards the UDF.

When such was the situation, NCP’s state president K.Muraleedharan is not prepared to wait any more for hitching the outfit with the UDF. All his efforts and the wishes of his father, K.Karunakaran, to ensure the entry of Muraleedharan into the Congress or the UDF had gone awry.

Now Muraleedharan is pressing NCP national president Sharad Pawar to push the proposal forward with Congress high command to ensure entry of NCP into the UDF in Kerala. Pawar reportedly agreed with Muraleedharan that there should be a UPA-type alliance in Kerala.

A.V.Thamarakshan of the erstwhile RSP has come into the UDF via JSS of K.R.Gowri Amma.In the circumstances, the UDF is a sought-after coalition for being with the power- possible.

The CPM can take any decision now, for it knows it too well that it cannot change the alternate reign system for the LDF and the UDF in Kerala.

Whatever be the organisational decisions of the CPM now, it does not stand to lose much.All the same, why should there be stagnation in the politicalscape? Let there be movement forward. For human history has been made by people and leaders who always were active, on the move.