Southern States - Kerala   

Murali-Antony ties may take a beating

By Girish Menon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM July 15. The appointment of a `third group' nominee as Youth Congress president has virtually disrupted the working relations between the KPCC president, K Muraleedharan, and the Chief Minister, A K Antony.

Even though Mr Muraleedharan has not gone to the extent of carrying out his threat to resign from his post, it has become amply clear that he would not be able to function as he has been doing all these while, straining to project himself as an impartial party president. The appointment would not have taken place but for Mr Antony's stand that the Youth Congress presidentship should go to the `third group' as per an agreement arrived at between various factional leaders.

During the last one year, Mr Muraleedharan had emerged as one of the staunchest supporters of Mr Antony. He was instrumental in giving full support to the Government during the one-month long strike by its employees. The KPCC was also instrumental in helping the UDF formulate its toddy policy, besides providing the inputs to the UDF on various other issues.

The Chief Minister took pains to ensure that the Congress Legislature Party and the KPCC worked in tangent, rather than at cross-purposes as it had done in the not too recent past. Mr Muraleedharan had benefited from such positions as it helped in his overall objective of projecting himself as a mellowed and mature leader.

But the new development gives fresh energy to the senior leader, K Karunakaran, who has found himself caught between the interests of his group and that of his son. On several occasions in the past, Mr Muraleedharan has been forced to take positions seemingly opposed to those held by Mr Karunakaran. This had helped Mr Muraleedharan attain the image of an impartial leader. Mr Muraleedharan himself has gone on record on how he had bent backwards to accommodate the various factions in various appointments, both in the party and in the Government.

The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi's refusal to go back on the AICC's decision nominating K P Anil Kumar as the Youth Congress president has put Mr Muraleedharan in a spot. He has been put in a position where he cannot oppose the AICC decision while at the same time cater to the aspirations of his supporters. The Antony faction leaders however maintain that they are not a party to the high command's decision. ``If any thing, it puts the Karunakaran faction on a confrontation course with the high command as its decisions are being questioned,'' a senior Antony faction leader said.

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