The Congress Legislature Party on Sunday unanimously elected Oommen Chandy as its leader. This was followed by the United Democratic Front (UDF) formally nominating him as its candidate for Chief Minister.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday. The UDF is yet to take a decision on others who would take the oath of office and secrecy along with Mr. Chandy.
At the Congress Legislature Party meeting, Mr. Chandy's name was proposed by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala and seconded by Aryadan Mohammed. The election process was formally launched after Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Mohsina Kidwai and AICC general secretary Madhusoodan Mistry, who is in charge of Kerala, held a one-to-one meeting in their capacity as observers with the 38 elected MLAs. Congress president Sonia Gandhi was informed about the one-line resolution authorising her to nominate the CLP leader and this was promptly cleared, facilitating Mr. Chennithala to make the formal announcement.
The stage for Mr. Chandy's unanimous election was set when Mr. Chennithala announced earlier in the day that he had no plans to contest for the post of CLP leader. Mr. Chennithala scoffed at speculations on television channels about a possible showdown at the CLP meeting, maintaining he had at no point of time considered contesting. His mission, he said, was to strengthen the party, something which had strived hard for the last seven years.
Right from the beginning, it was clear that Mr. Chandy would emerge triumphant as the Chief Minister candidate. He had the first claim for a second innings after a brief term as Chief Minister from September 2005 to May 2006 and later as the Leader of the Opposition for a full five-year term. The widespread speculation of a possible change in leadership owing to a change in the communal composition of the elected members has been out of place as the party high command appears to have chosen to leverage its lack of ruling numbers in the coalition by maintaining the status quo and ploughing for unity in the party.
The significance of Mr. Chandy's unanimous election is that it gives him sufficient leeway to negotiate with coalition partners, who are demanding a change in the formula of ministry formation in tune with the changed circumstances.
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let us see whether The real problems of the people of Kerala are resolved,very often the electorate is passive or ignorant. Laws need to be amended,criminal laws,the Soverign functions of the state need to be strenghtened, Viz Administration of Justice, maintainence of Law and order and collection of Revenue,Police rules,need urgent changes given the societal changes,Police modernized, Revenue leakage is of more percentage than revenue collection, Judical appointment categaorized,through public service commissions,merit is qualified not political patronage.Once this done Then we can began calling ourselfs a modern Democratic state.
Mr.Chandy or Mr.Chennithala.......Perhaps this is the last time that congress is fortunate and seen smiling with so many corruption charges. Surely, they are Amul babies in front of CPM's 87 Yr. old warrior VS.CPM a wounded tiger, must open the eyes of public & bring in their EQUALITY manifesto,
Mr Chennitala did a lot of harm to the Congress by projecting himself as a probable CM candidate even playing the Hindu communal card and trying to influence Rahul Gandhi.He should remain out of the cabinet and wait for his turn.
Kerala will soon go Karnataka way for BJP. All thanks to UDF's secular ways ..
In fact it was a public secret that both Ramesh Chennithala and Oommen Chandy were contesting for the CM’s position in Kerala. When the election results proved only a thin margin both of them might have initially shown some reluctance to land in the Chair with a mammoth responsibility to maintain the coalition smoothly at all times. Ramesh is to be complimented for clearing off the speculations of Press that he will give a befitting claim on the pivotal post. He had shown a good precedent when he himself nominated Chandy at the Legislature Party Meeting. Can politicians in Tamil Nadu, especially within the same Congress party itself gracefully emulate the forbearance shown by Ramesh and Chandy in the neighboring state?
Congress needs to address its continued weakening in the state. On one hand where CPIM is strengthing in LDF, the contribution of congress has fallen in UDF. UDF constituents have succeeded in increasing strength at the cost of congress while CPIM was clearly taking measures to increase its strength in LDF year after year. In 2001 when UDF won, Cong had 63 against IUML 16 and Kerala Congress's 9; even then it was visible that Cong had to give free hand to the UDF partners bringing shame on UDF and Congress itself. This time it has only become worse.
Next 5 yrs will be make or break for Congress in Kerala. Unless it is able to lead the Govt with resolve and decipline we will be witness to Circus of the worst kind. This will be the most important 5 years for Umman Chandi. Another term doesn't seem possible for him (10yrs from now the congress leadership will be very different). History will judge him on what he does in the coming years and all his achievements till date will be forgotten. At 83 VS got his first and only chance to Govern; And at 87 as he leaves we are proud of him, not for his achievements but for his struggles and determination. Umman Chandi has to decide is he going to Manmohan (sleep with evil) or Antony (run from evil) or VS (fight evil).
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