Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V.M. Sudheeran were strident in their defence of Finance Minister and Kerala Congress (M) [KC-M] leader K.M. Mani, the target of an allegation connected to the renewal of liquor bar licences. Such responses are but unlikely to address the trust deficit in their relations.
The relations between senior leaders of the Congress and the KC(M) have been strained for quite some time now. The trust deficit widened with speculations on Mr. Mani’s move to shift camp to the Left Democratic Front (LDF). Even though the two parties have travelled forward by laying to rest such speculations, there have been many instances which suggested that the relations are not on an even keel.
The allegation against Mr. Mani, irrespective of its nature, serves to widen the trust deficit further.
The KC(M) has made it clear that the party will face the charges against its leader politically. Mr. Mani termed the charges ‘baseless.’ He suspects a larger conspiracy.
He had taken a stern stand on implementing prohibition in stages, but now attempts are being made to insult him by raking up baseless charges. Besides, it is clear that the charges are trumped up as the decision on bar licences does not come under his purview as the Finance Minister, he says. With the United Democratic Front (UDF) government half way through its term, it remains to be seen how this will affect governance.
Interestingly, the UDF leadership has been troubled by internal problems rather than campaigns by the Opposition coalition, which appears to be lukewarm to the current round of allegations.
The first half of the year was spent on handling controversies over the latent differences between leaders on the liquor policy.
The Congress party’s defeat in the Idukki Lok Sabha seat in the general elections also contributed to the strained relations with the Kerala Congress (M). This was followed by the speculation that Mr. Mani might move over to the LDF.
