“I have been criticised politically, even attacked personally, all through my political life by opponents. But I believe that is the real endorsement of the honesty of my politics,” says K.M. Mani, who is celebrating a very relaxed 85th birthday on Monday, looking back at his political life spanning over more than half a century.
“Mine is a politics of fight, struggle. I started off as a Congress man and it was a time when the Congress politics in Central Travancore was totally controlled by the elitist leadership. And they did not want a common man sitting among them,” referring to his early years in politics. “But I fought back and came up the ladder,” he said speaking to The Hindu .
The fight continues even today. “Even today the big parties have not shed their old Janmi mindset. And they don’t want Kerala Congress to sit along with them. That is why they try to belittle us, push us out of the political space. And that is why we decided to come out of the coalition and go it alone. As long as the people are with us, we are not alone,” Mr. Mani said.
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Mr. Mani said his politics had proved beyond doubt that the party had an identity and relevance of its own. “Just think what would have been the plight of the farming community if the Kerala Congress was not there. Just take the case of the lakhs of people who have been benefited by the Karunya project, the various welfare measures which the party’s representatives had brought in under the various Ministries,” he said.
He believes the party would not have been born if the tragedy had not struck P.T. Chacko, the veteran Congress leader. It started off as an amorphous movement against what they believed was victimisation of Chacko. According to him, the efforts to turn it into a well-structured political party under his leadership was the reason for the first split in the party.
The pressures of coalition politics and the long shadow of Congress party had its impact on the growth of the Kerala Congress. “Now we have come out of the coalition. We have no problem in going it alone. But that does not mean we will be fighting alone, always.”
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“During elections there could be electoral alliances. But that will be on the basis of policies and programmes,” he said.