KOCHI: Electoral politics in Kerala, as elsewhere, is often influenced by cataclysmic events. The latest has been the murder of CPM rebel TP Chandrasekharan, RMP leader. In one stroke, the political situation in Kerala has changed beyond recognition. The fifth minister issue and a host of other problems that had engulfed the UDF and threatened to sabotage its poll prospects in Neyyatinkara have suddenly vanished from public view. Prior to May 4, when the murder took place, political Kerala had only one topic to discuss--the surrender of Congress to the Indian Union Muslim League and the consequent humiliation meted out to the majority community by the UDF, which was in serious trouble in Neyyatinkara where the by-election takes place on June 2. The tide was clearly turning against the UDF and the electorate seemed to be in a mood to teach it a lesson when the most unexpected happened. The gruesome murder of TP by a ‘quotation gang,’ the paid killers who have set up the fastest-growing ‘blood-spilling’ industry in Kerala, was a bombshell more powerful than the one exploded on the eve of the Piravom by-election. That blast, the resignation of R Selvaraj, the CPM MLA representing far-away Neyyatinkara, from the party and the Assembly had demoralised the LDF so thoroughly that Piravom was a cakewalk for the UDF. The quotation gang which neatly executed the murder of Chandrasekharan escaped after achieving its objective of changing the complexion of the farcical political games being played out in Kerala. Now the entire people, along with crafty politicians and their willing pawns in the police forces, are wracking their brains on the motive of the killers and their masters who ordered the execution at a crucial time and place, close to the by-election but very far from the real battlefield. One cannot miss the similarities of the Piravom and Neyyatinkara events, the personnel involved, the methods of operations and the impact.Apparently, every effort is being made to pin down the CPM as it has a history of waging bloody battles against its opponents and traitors. But like in a crime thriller, the obvious culprits may turn out to be innocent at the end and there may be surprise villains who may or may not be caught depending on the requirement of the situation.The situation obtaining immediately before May 4 was most inauspicious for the Chandy Government surviving on a wafer-thin majority. Chandy’s slide from public esteem was rapid from the heady days a few months ago when he had become the unchallenged leader of the Congress and UDF.All the advantage that the UDF gained from Piravom had gone down the drain quickly on the fifth minister issue. The quarrels in the UDF and the infighting in the Congress made a mockery of the professed unity of the front, and Chandy all of a sudden seemed a pale shadow of his former self, unable to withstand the tactics of recalcitrant allies. Governance was also the casualty. It was at this juncture that the shocking murder took place and by any reckoning, it is the UDF which has benefited from it. It stands now like a saint beside the badly-mauled CPM with bloodied hands. Though the UDF was not directly affected by the murder, it was the UDF which called a hartal within hours of the killing to whip up public resentment. CPM leaders have tried to put even P C George in the dock, but he is the one who knows how to whip them hard as he did in Neyyatinkara. The CPM is seemingly the biggest loser in this fast-paced political game. In the wake of the avalanche of events, not even a line appears in the mass media about the insult suffered by the majority community or the mess in the UDF. The UDF men, especially League, have good reasons to smile. (The views in the article are the author’s own)
Comments
0 comment