No mercy for Karuna

With his latest adventurism, veteran Congress leader Karuna-karan may have bitten a bit more than he could swallow

Jeemon Jacob Thiruvananthapuram

The message was clear for K Karunakaran. The Congress high command has no sympathy for him. Sonia Gandhi may have given him a patient audience in Delhi as the Kerala Congress leader and former chief minister went on about the humiliation heaped upon him by the rival camp headed by state Chief Minister Oomman Chandy. In the end, she said, "If you continue to challenge party discipline and leadership, you will invite trouble. And it's your responsibility to ensure discipline in the party." She did not mince her words.

The octogenarian leader returned to Kerala with a deceptive smile. Clearly, he is in a dilemma — whether to split the party or to yield to the whips of the high command. His political acumen warns him not to take a risk. But his son K Muraleedharan pushes him towards a split to settle the score with Oomman Chandy. His loyalists pray for him. Things are going to be tough for him.

Karunakaran has been able to display his strength by challenging the party leadership in organising dissident rallies in Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam. He has hoped to prove that he commands a sizeable following in the party. But it is his son and former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Muraleedharan who will be the victim of his war cries. Muraleedharan's suspension is not likely to be revoked, after he was temporarily ousted for calling All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Ahmed Patel a "power broker". Patel swiftly indicated that he would not hesitate to expel Muraleedharan from the party if he continues to violate party discipline.

Karunakaran's revolt against the state leadership and high command has been a flop. Many of his staunch loyalists skipped dissident rallies fearing disciplinary action and only a few MLAs supported his move to split the party. As Karunakaran struggles to save face, Chief Minister Chandy is taking advantage by splitting Karunakaran's group.

To begin with, Chandy and PCC chief Thennala Balakrishna Pillai initiated a series of disciplinary actions against Karunakaran loyalists. "The party is important and the leaders and groups are secondary. The leaders emerge only when the party exists. So as a Congress member it's my duty to strengthen the party," Oomman Chandy said. He was able to parade Karunakaran loyalists at an official rally in Kottayam and appealed to all Congress members to unite and fight divisive forces in the party.

Indiscipline and factional feuds have been the hallmarks of the Congress party in Kerala since the days of the freedom struggle. Factional feuds led to the fall of the ministry headed by Pattom Thanu Pillai and R Shankar during the early 1960s. In 1964, P T Chacko and R Shankar led two groups in the Congress and 15 Congress MLAs resigned from the party and formed the Kerala Congress under the leadership of K M George. In 1980, another split destabilised the party when a faction headed by A K Antony left the party, fought elections with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and formed the government. The Antony group, however, withdrew its support to the Nayanar government in 1982 and returned to the Congress. Since then, factional feuds and indiscipline have been haunting the Congress party in the state.

"Karunakaran has only vested interests and his priority is his family. He is taking the party for a ride. We will not allow him to ruin the party," says Mullappally Ramachandran, KPCC general secretary and former Lok Sabha member. He feels Karunakaran will not be able to engineer a split in the party. He also believes that Karunakaran is trying to "get some favours" from the party high command.

"He is using threats to convey his message. But his tactics may backfire this time," Mullappally hopes. "There are 4.3 million Congress workers in the state. And only 25,000 people attended the dissidents' rallies that he organised. Only one MLA participated. Even his most trusted district committee presidents skipped the rally.

This shows not his strength but his weakness, he adds."

Many others share his views in the party. KPCC president Thennala Balakrishna Pillai indicated that he is not ready to reverse the disciplinary action initiated against Muraleedharan.

Meanwhile, the state leadership with the support of Central leadership is trying to win over more leaders from Karunakaran's camp by offering posts in the government. Pandalam Sudhakaran, who refused to attend the dissidents' rallies, has been appointed chairperson of the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC), a high profile post that was earlier given to Padmaja Venugopal, Karunakaran's daughter.