The Hindu : Antony unmoved despite mounting pressure

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 12, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Antony unmoved despite mounting pressure

By Girish Menon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM MARCH 11. Despite all-round pressure on him to order a judicial probe into the Muthanga incident, the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, does not appear to have budged an inch from his original stand refusing to order a judicial inquiry.

Mr. Antony has strengthened his resolve in the backdrop of the backing he has received from the KPCC, not to mention the support of the UDF. There was a time when he appeared to be a bit shaky when senior Congress leaders like V. M. Sudheeran and K. Karunakaran opposed the Chief Minister's stand and demanded a judicial inquiry. The impression that gathered momentum was that a large section in the Congress was opposed to the Chief Minister.

The KPCC views came a day after Mr. Karunakaran openly demanded a judicial inquiry. That the KPCC president, Mr. K Muraleedharan, himself openly supported the State Government's stand and even went to the extent of asserting that his was the party view must have come as a shot in the arm for Mr. Antony.

The Chief Minister views the LDF agitation, including the hartal, as politically motivated. In response to the demand for a judicial probe, he indicated that the Government would wait till the National Human Rights Commission took further steps on the report it has submitted to the latter.

Given the upper hand he enjoys in the UDF, Mr. Antony was all set to take on the LDF, particularly the CPI(M). For him, the internal problems in the Congress have always been the weakest link. Mr. Muraleedharan's statement supporting the Chief Minister should be viewed in this context.

Through the deft handling of the internal affairs of the party, Mr. Antony has sidelined his arch rival, Mr. Karunakaran. The senior leader has not found many, either in the UDF or the KPCC, including his son, supporting his demand for a judicial probe. Once again, Mr. Karunakaran appears to be hemmed in by the KPCC president's positions. According to some of the senior UDF leaders, Mr. Karunakaran has only the support of the CPI(M) and the LDF.

The UDF strategy so far has been to wear out the Opposition agitation. Now that it has conducted a hartal in support of its demand for a judicial probe and that the hunger stir by its MLAs have entered its fourth day, the LDF is expected to announce the second leg of its agitation. According to the UDF leaders, the only possibility for the LDF is to create problems in the Assembly when it reconvenes for the Budget on March 14. But given its numerical strength, the ruling coalition would not hesitate to push the budget through without even bothering to go for the customary vote on account.

In the heat of the Muthanga issue, the Assembly has also lost the chance to discuss two major issues, one related to the ADB loan and the other on the outcome of the Global Investor Meet.

It was the opposition which first demanded a full-fledged Assembly debate on the ADB loan.

The discussion on ADB and GIM had been scheduled to be held on March 10 and 11. But this did not materialise as the session had to be curtailed in the face of the opposition agitation on the Muthanga issue.

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