The Kerala Congress (M)’s hard stand against the Congress leadership, blaming it for trying to undermine its coalition partners, is likely to give quite a few headaches to the managers of the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF).
This is for the first time in the past several years that the Kerala Congress (M) has come out with such strong words against the Congress. The party’s stand is in stark contrast to that of the Indian Union Muslim League, which has been trying to underplay the impact of the Assembly election results. There have been several occasions in the past when the trust quotient between the Kerala Congress (M) and the Congress leaders has touched the lowest point. Going by the harsh observations made by senior KC(M) leaders at the party’s steering committee meeting in Kottayam the other day, the mutual trust appeared to be totally non-existent.
'Congress bent backwards'
The KC(M) steering committee came to the conclusion that the Congress bent backwards to wipe out its coalition partners. Leaders felt that the KC(M) would have met the fate of the Revolutionary Socialist Party, which drew a blank, mainly because the Congress pulled the rug from under its feet, but for its strong political foundation. The party leaders also put the blame on some of the former Ministers (read Ramesh Chennithala) for the court cases that led to K.M. Mani’s resignation. It blamed Congress leader P.J. Kurien for the loss of the Thiruvalla seat.
The steering committee deliberations also reflect the sense of insecurity that the KC(M) is currently facing, especially in the context of the defeat it suffered in some of its core constituencies such as Thiruvalla, Kothamangalam and Poonjar, not to mention Irinjalakuda. However, the UDF leaders, including Mr. Mani, will have to partially take the blame for their inability to accommodate various Christian denominations in their respective core constituencies.
Currently, the party does not have any option but to join the attempts to consolidate the UDF to prevent further erosion.
Other than criticisms in party forums, the KC(M) has not pushed the envelope beyond a point. But the trust deficit is likely to be a major irritant.
