People's Democracy

KERALA

Desperate Congress Inducts Chennithala into Cabinet

N S Sajith

IN a desperate attempt to put up a show of unity, the Congress effected a cosmetic change in the UDF government, after the Congress High Command decided on December 30, 2013 to induct KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala in the state cabinet with home portfolio. As the ten months old dream of Ramesh Chennithala materialises, the incumbent home minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan is likely to become jobless. 

Senior Congress leader V M Sudheeran or former speaker G Karthikeyan may now get the post of PCC chief. A cabinet reshuffle is also expected before January 3, the first day of assembly session.  

The mission for a facelift of the scam tainted UDF government was led by the union defence minister A K Antony on whose command this important decision was made. Antony, who kept himself away from the factional feuds among leaders and controversies like solar panel scam, suddenly got active and strongly batted for Chennithala in order to curb the chief minister Oommen Chandy’s power. In 2004 Oommen Chandy was in the forefront of the move to get Antony dethroned from the chief minister’s position after the UDF’s defeat in Lok Sabha elections.

On his part, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan told the leaders that if he was stripped off the home portfolio, he would not continue as a part of Oommen Chandy’s cabinet. Last week, in a meeting with leaders of the High Command, Chennithala had expressed his willingness to get inducted into the cabinet with home portfolio.

However, leaders of the Chandy faction demanded that the home portfolio should not be given to Chennithala. Chandy is also likely to use all his power to prevent V M Sudheeran from becoming the next PCC chief and argue for Thiruvanchoor being made the new speaker.

All these efforts were made in the backdrop of a survey conducted by an agency at the instance of the KPCC. The survey found that the UDF would lose heavily in the next Lok Sabha elections. Earlier, another survey conducted by Rahul Gandhi had found that a majority of the seats won by the UDF in 2009 would be wrested by the LDF in 2014.