Friday, Apr 11, 2003
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Kerala
By Girish Menon
The rivals appear to be involved in a rare kind of psychological war in the run up to the election which has two official Congress candidates and a rebel in what could be a numbers game. The KPCC president, K. Muraleedharan, who returned here from New Delhi this afternoon, has written to the party MLAs to vote for the official candidates. Addressing a press conference, Mr. Muraleedharan said he had merely performed his duties a0s KPCC president, as per the directive of the party president, Sonia Gandhi, but did concede that the existence of a rebel candidate was indeed an unresolved problem before the party high command. The `I' group MLAs met Mr. Muraleedharan and informed him of their decision to throw their weight behind Kodoth Govindan Nair, the senior leader, K. Karunakaran's nominee. The KPCC general secretaries, K.P. Kunhikannan, Raj Mohan Unnithan, Saratchandra Prasad, K.K. Vijayalakshmi, and P.K. Velayudan, the KPCC treasurer, C.N. Balakrishnan, and the joint secretaries, owing allegiance to Mr. Karunakaran met the veteran at his residence and expressed their total support to his political moves. The `I' group MLAs decided to meet Mr. Muraleedharan as a delegation after a factional meet at Mr. Karunakaran's residence. Mr. Karunakaran is reported to have impressed upon his MLA supporters the need to stand together and "stand up to the constant insults and neglects they have been subjected to''. Mr. Karunakaran's moves today were basically confined to keep up the morale of his supporters especially after the expulsion of the Kasaragod DCC president, Mr. Govindan Nair, from the party. The impression he sought to convey was the party high command's action had no major impact on the cohesiveness of his faction. Mr. Muraleedharan later announced that the KPCC general secretary had been given charge of the Kasaragod district following the suspension of Mr. Nair. The anti-Karunakaran groups in the meantime worked out strategies to prevent erosion of votes in favour of the rebel candidate. A lot of time appears to have been spent on working out the right kind of formula while allocating the preferential votes to the 62 MLAs. The CLP secretary, Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan, has written to the party MLAs to be present for the election. He has also informed them that the allocation of candidates would be intimated later. The anti-Karunakaran forces highlighted the fact that the suspension of Mr. Nair was reflective of the hard position of the party high command. Taking cue from the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony's statement that the contest in the election would spell the disintegration of the party, some of the senior `A' group MLAs expect many of the `I' group MLAs would evaluate their future in the party and in this back drop they would vote in favour of the official nominees. While the rival groups were at work, one person kept himself away from it all -- the Congress party's official nominee, Thennala Balakrishna Pillai. True to his unassuming style, Mr. Pillai appears to have taken the clinical view that he need not campaign for election since he has been nominated as the official candidate and it was the responsibility of the party high command and the party MLAs to ensure election of the official candidates.
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