Cong expels Muraleedharan

Annoyed and irritated by his repeated defiance of the state unit of the party, the Congress central leadership today expelled K Muraleedharan, son of K Karunakaran, former chief minister and convener of the so- called dissident "I" group.

This is a declaration of an intra-party war in the Congress between the faction supporting Chief Minister Oomen Chandy and the one led by Karunakaran, after the Karunakaran group persisted in going ahead with a rally in Kochi at the end of March.

The rally was billed as a show of strength by Karunakaran and his15-odd legislators and ministers in the ruling United Democratic Front. Muraleedharan was suspended from the Congress just before the rally as a warning.

This move, envisaged to bring about some semblance of discipline in the Congress unit in Kerala, will most certainly have a debilitating effect on the party and will be a setback to the party's prospects in the Assembly elections, scheduled for early 2006.

Karunakaran's activities have been on for some time, sustained by the acutely factional nature of the Congress in the state. It suffered a minor setback after the general elections when virtually all the candidates he had fought and secured tickets for""his daughter Padmaja and son Muraleedharan""lost the elections.

The Congress did not get a single seat in the Lok Sabha elections from the state. But Karunakaran claims that his is the real Congress and believes Chandy is only a pretender. A small part was played in the drama by former Chief Minister AK Antony, who stepped down following the party's defeat in the general elections.

Antony called on Karuna-karan and also went to Delhi to meet party chief Sonia Gandhi, strengthening speculation that a patch-up between the two factions was in the offing, but the high command was angry that the Kochi rally went ahead, while unity efforts were on.

How Karunakaran will hit back at the party will now determine the index of the damage the expulsion will do. But it is clear that the field is likely to be clear for the Left Democratic Front in Kerala in the next Assembly. The only question is how many seats the Congress will get as an opposition party.

Interestingly, no action has been taken against Karunakaran, possibly fearing the damage the backlash can cause if MLAs under his "protection" revolt.