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Finally, Congress High Command implements a ‘face lift’ move for the Kerala state unit of the party and the United Democratic Front (UDF) government. The High command, on Monday has instructed the party state unit to induct PCC chief Ramesh Chennithala in the cabinet, providing him with Home portfolio and spotting No 2 after chief minister Oommen Chandy.
Ramesh will swear in as minister on the New Year day. There will be a minor re-shuffling in the portfolios of Congress ministers, with the present Home minister, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan is likely to get Forest and Vigilance departments.
It is learned that Ramesh will hold additional charge of the PCC chief for the time being, until a ‘suitable’ candidate is spotted. This will be a tough exercise as group rivalry is so hectic in the Kerala unit of the party. According to sources close to the developments, High Command will be the final word in this regard.
Speaker G. Karthikeyan is the first contestant for the post, but Congress High Command favours V.M. Sudheeran, who has a very clean image not only in the party, but among the general public. A section of the visual media reported that chief minister does not favour Sudheeran as he had made the cabinet on a defensive mode on several occassions through his statements.
The ball is now in the court of the High command; if they decide to bank upon the clean image of the veteran leader in the next parliament elections, Sudheeran will get a chance. If the high command favours good co-ordination between the chief minister and the PCC chief the lot will be in favour of G. Kartikeyan. Chances of Sudheeran is looking brighter, according to a top leader of the party.
He thinks that as Ramesh and Karthikeyan are from the same Nair community, it affects the communal balance in the party and the government. This may disturb the Ezhava community in the state. As Sudheeran comes from this community, he gets a better chance for the post, he said. Sources told Business Standard that the decision about the new PCC chief will be taken later.
The budget session of the assembly will commence on Friday and the UDF wants a fresh face on the floor of the house by inducting Ramesh as home minister. The move is to appease the Nair Service Society (NSS) which is having a big say in Kerala politics. NSS is against the government and its main criticism is that the Oommen Chandy ministry is governed by minority communities, like the Muslims and Christians.
The High command now hints to end the rivalry with NSS, which has strong clout in the central Travancore area of the state. If NSS is not favoring UDF, its chances in at least 5 Lokh Sabha seats will be in trouble. This is very crucial to the Congress party as their position is rather weak in other south Indian states.
So Rahul Gandhi directly involves in the Kerala affairs and takes decisions. Defence minister A.K. Antony is now in Kerala tipping off the thinking of the party high command and Rahul, forcing the Kerala unit to fight it out united in the elections.
The image of the UDF government is in deep crisis now, as a number allegations against ministers including the chief minister which made the government caught in an image crisis. The new exercise can be seen as ‘face lift’ programme before the general elections.
Ramesh’s cabinet berth has been spoiling the image of Congress and the government for the last one year as Oommen Chandy faction (A group) was resisting his inclusison strongly. Though Chandy is in favour of including him in the ministry he does not favour giving the key Home department. He was soft pedaling the issue for quiet a long time, but now an ultimatum from Rahul and the High Command.
Earlier High command decided to maintain status quo in the party and government , now through an unexpected move it makes a major shift before the elections. Although it seems that the internal issues will be solved to a great extend, side lining of Thiruvanchoor creates a problem to Congress.
Also tipping a man for the PCC chief post is critical at this juncture. Whether this face lift will work out in the elections? This is the crucial issue Congress party is facing in Kerala.
