Southern States - Kerala   

Cabinet berth a litmus test for Thomas

By George Jacob

KOTTAYAM May 25. Few ministerial appointments from Kerala, in recent times, had evoked such public interest as that of P C Thomas', who was sworn in as Minister of State for Law and Justice in the latest reshuffle of the Vajpayee Ministry on Saturday.

That, his unending wait for this auspicious moment had contributed to this anticipation is obvious, but the more important factors that had contributed to this curiosity appear to be the risky political positions Mr. Thomas was forced to take (against the backdrop of the near bipolar political situation in Kerala) and the not so traditional path he chose to tread in the latest lap of his political journey.

Since the wait is over, Mr. Thomas would be under close scrutiny of the political observers on two fronts: one his contribution towards building up the `third force' which the BJP had been harping on; and two, the impact of his new position on the Kerala Congress politics.

A Kerala Congressman to the boot, Mr. Thomas was forced out of the parent party, the Kerala Congress(M), nearly two years ago following an abortive political experiment involving the BJP and the new political chemistry brewing in the party on account of the emergence of new political leaders.

The fight had become too personalised and degenerated into one between Mr. Thomas and the party supremeo, K. M. Mani.

It was against this backdrop that he, along with five other MPs from other States, formed the Indian Federal Democratic Party (IFDP) — a virtual halfway home for all political loners — and had waited patiently for an entry into the Cabinet.

For the BJP which is vigorously following an action plan for the formation a viable `third force' in time for the coming Parliament elections, that too under a new leadership, Mr. Thomas' elevation provides a second lease of life for the earlier experiment which went wrong when he was in the Kerala Congress(M).

At that time the reason put forward by the KC(M) leaders to roll back the initiative was that they did not get much in return from the BJP in the form of votes.

However, the BJP leadership today expect a better performance, during the coming elections, especially with the new-found friendship they have established with the SNDP leadership.

That the party's president designate, P. S. Sreedharan Pillai, has put it in not so unveiled terms is ominous.

Whether it is too tall an order for Mr. Thomas, whose IFDP is yet to take a clear form and shape in its possible strongholds to mobilise his part of the grand alliance, remains to be seen.

On the second front, the impact of Mr. Thomas' elevation may be more obvious. However, here too, whether it would work out the way Mr. Thomas would like it to evolve, remains to be seen.

It had been an open secret that Mr. Thomas was in close liaison with the other three factions of the Kerala Congress ever since he was ousted from KC(M).

In fact, many still believe that if he were dumped by the BJP leadership this time, he would have made a grand entry into any one of these factions and would have become a rallying point for all anti-Mani forces in the Kerala Congress factions.

Now that he had openly entered the NDA, Mr. Mani can breath ease, it is pointed out.

It has also been pointed out that Mr. Thomas' entry into the NDA has rendered the Muvattupuzha constituency vacant (as far as the UDF is concerned) providing more manoeuvrability to Mr. Mani.

However, Mr. Thomas can always have the satisfaction of being the first one to move out of the KC realm and enter the national scene.

Of more interest to his followers and the anti-Mani forces would be the future chemistry between the Minister of Law in the State (Mr. Mani) and Minister of State for Law in the Union Cabinet.

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