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An Octogenarian Putsch
1 May, 2005
The decade-old rift in the Kerala unit of the Congress
party finally leads to the formation of the National Congress
Indira under the leadership of the former (I) group chieftain
and former CM K Karunakaran
BY JOMY VARGHESE
The simmering discontent in the Kerala unit of Congress culminated in the formation of a breakaway party on May Day, floated by octogenarian Congress leader Kannoth karunakaran. The octogenarian leader announced severing of his seven decade-old association with the Congress at a dissident rally in Thrissur.
The veteran Congress leader’s party, christened National Congress Indira, would have as his president his son K Muraleedharan, who was expelled from Congress last month for six years for his defiance of state leadership and for staging a series of dissident rallies in the run-up to the split in Congress, which would undoubtedly harm the prospects of the party in Kerala, tough it remains to be seen how much gain the new party floated by Karunakaran would make.
Karunakaran’s main problem was the loss of CM’s chair. He became the Chief Minister of the state for the first time in 1977.
He held the post for four times, during 1977, 1981-1982, and 1982-1987 and 1991-1995. He also served as leader of opposition in kerala legislative assembly for four times. He had always remained a loyalist in the Congress, which means that he stood by the official faction. To be specific, he was always in the good books of the High Command, until his ouster from the CM’s chair. He could not accept any one other than himself in the CM’s post from the Congress. Therein started his fall.
The Indira faction known as I group which he nurtured within the party also saw a depletion in numbers, with many leaders handpicked by Karunakaran himself deserting him after he fell from the grace of the Congress High Command. The I faction led byhim , which had the backing of nearly half of the 60-Congress MLAs four years back, is now down to 10 men, according to reliable count. This essentially means that even with the entire MLAs loyal to Karunakaran, the CPM-led Opposition Left Democratic Front cannot the Congress government in the state. Moreover, the MLA’s risk disqualification if they disobey the party whip. Hence all the MLAs still loyal to Karunakaran where allowed to stay away from the dissident meet held in Thrissur, where the formation of the new party was announced.
The Congress leadership has always tolerated Karunakaran’s antics and pressure tactics considering his nuisance value. The Ernakulam Lok Sabha by-poll, hardly a year before last year’s general elections, saw the drubbing of the official Congress nominee in a traditional Congress bastion. The reason: Karunakaran played truant as his nominee was not given party ticket.
This forced the Congress to be more accommodative to the Karunakaran faction. As a patch up bid, his daughter Padmaja Venugopal, a political novice, was given the Mukundapuram seat, another traditional Congress bastion in the Lok Sabha polls. She lost by a huge margin. In fact, last general election saw the Congress receiving a drubbing. No party candidate won from Kerala for the first time. This was seen as popular resentment against the politics of factionalism within the Congress.
 The Congress then came to the conclusion that accommodating Karunakaran’s whims and fancies would be more destructive than sidelining him. In the aftermath of the Lok Sabha poll drubbing, when A K Antony quietly paved way for Oomen Chandy as the CM, the options for Karunakaran were narrowing. Chandy represented the hardliners in the party who advocated a tough approach to the Karunakran faction, even if it meant a split in the party. Internal dissidence would do more harm to the party, Chandy believed. It is this line of thought, which has now gained an upper hand in the AICC, in dealing with Karunakaran.
The AICC chose to isolate Karunakaran by targeting his son Muraleedharan through the latter’s expulsion. The thinking was that if Karunakaran was expelled from the party he never deserted, it would gain him brownie points and sympathy votes. Now that the veteran leader has parted ways with Congress, this political line of thought would be put to test in the local body polls in September, which would be the curtain raiser for the Assembly Polls due next year.
The local body polls would also give the National Congress Indira a platform to play spoilsport to the Congress. It can show its clout simply by ensuring a defeat of Congress candidates. But that alone wouldn’t guarantee it the much needed political space.
The political resolutions adopted at the dissident rally in which the formation of the new party was announced is clearly seen as an attempt to drum up support for a possible inclusion in the Opposition Left Democratic Front. But this is easier said and done.
The LDF on its part feel that it can win on its own, given the dismal performance of the Congress in the state as well as the intense factionalism within the Congress as well as internecine
feuds within the United Democratic Front allies. So why take the baggage of a discredited Karunakaran outfit to its bandwagon seems to be the thinking of the LDF leadership, though they have not so far come out in the open on their stand vis-à-vis the breakaway party.
Karunakaran also doesn’t have the option to tie-up with the Sangh Parivar, as it is still untouchable in Kerala. This essentially means that Karunakaran has to do a Pawar if he is to regain a space in the political spectrum. When Pawar broke away from Congress, many wrote his political obituary, but now in Maharashtra, the Congress is seen playing second fiddle to Pawar’s NCP in the ruling coalition.
Even now, Karunakaran has left open a door to return to the Congress by refraining to attack the Congress High Command. Karunakan and his cohorts may still need that door to get some political breathing space in the long run. Only time will tell.
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