When Congress leader from Kerala A K Antony was asked at Rashtrapati Bhavan if K C Venugopal was one of his proteges, he hummed and hawed and said: “Now they are all my proteges” — meaning Venugopal was part of his rival K Karunakaran’s camp.
It is believed that Venugopal, a Nair, has been elevated as the minister of state for power not just to appease the influential Nair community in Kerala, but also to ensure the Nair Service Society (NSS), a key political group in the southern state, is kept happy.
Congress-NSS ties worsened in 1995 during a visit of then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao. In the Assembly polls a year later, NSS broke away from the Congress-led UDF and promised to defeat the A K Antony-led Congress and the UDF.
With elections round the corner, Venugopal’s appointment is a step in that direction.
