'Yatra' to mobilise UDF for Assembly poll

By Girish Menon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 6. The 18-day ``Kerala Mochana Yatra'' of Mr. A.K. Antony and other UDF leaders from February 2 will formally trigger off the Opposition campaign for the coming Assembly elections. The objective of the ``yatra'' is obvious - mobilise the UDF in time for the elections, slated for April.

The UDF leadership has accorded great importance to the `yatra', going by the meticulous spade work being undertaken to make it a success, if not a barometer to test the anti- incumbency of the LDF Government. Even the slogan - Kerala Mochana Yatra - has been carefully chosen. While Mr. Antony, along with the UDF leaders, will lead the `yatra' from the front, the senior Congress(I) leader, Mr. K. Karunakaran, would flag off the yatra, with the IUML supremo, Mr. Pannakkad Sayyed Mohammedali Shihab Thangal, presiding over the function.

In fact, the UDF leadership is leaving no stone unturned to make the yatra a success. The coalition convener, Mr. K. Sankaranarayanan, has convened three zonal conventions of UDF leaders on January 9, 10 and 15 to work out the finer details of the vehicle jatha, which is expected to touch the 140 Assembly constituencies in the State.

As far as Mr. Antony is concerned, the yatra would be the first of its kind he has led in the last many years. It would also be a throwback on his abilities as an organiser, though care is being taken to highlight the unity of the stir among UDF partners. The attempt would be to recapture the spirit of the Plus Two agitation, which brought all UDF constituents on a common platform.

Given the electoral imperatives of keeping the UDF partners together, the Antony yatra appears to have more objectives than the stated ones. The Congress(I) is unlikely to overlook the soft positions taken by two of its main coalition partners - the IUML's soft line towards its State enemy, the CPI(M), and the Kerala Congress(M)'s soft line (despite Mr Mani's strong denials) with its national enemy, the BJP.

The yatra, it is believed, would also give some playing space to the other smaller partners. With the BJP making long-term decisive political moves to capitalise on its image as a national party in power and the Prime Minister's week-long Kerala vacation, the smaller parties might find it attractive to open an account with it if the going gets bad enough, making the Congress(I) a loser.

The yatra should also be viewed in the context of the inner party problems in the Congress(I). Even though Mr. Karunakaran and Mr. Antony are assertive about their cordial relations, the cold war between the two is discernible, especially with regard to the revamp of the KPCC(I) and the feeder organisations like the KSU and the Youth Congress(I). Over a period of time, Mr. Karunakaran has proved that the Congress(I) leadership could hardly get along in the State by ignoring him.

He has been putting pressure on the high command to revamp the KPCC(I) and the feeder organisations.

The yatra would help Mr. Antony cover up the shortcomings in the Congress(I) and underplay his own headaches with factional feuds. It would be difficult for Congressmen, irrespective of their factional affiliations, to stay away from any kind of anti- Government campaigns. The success of the yatra will help put factional feuds on the backburner at least till dialogues are opened for sharing of Assembly seats.

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Section  : Southern States
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