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Kerala changes : Warning for Punjab, Uttaranchal CMs |
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Observers feel A.K. Antony’s resignation and Oommen Chandy’s installation as the new Chief Minister of Kerala are meant to be a warning to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh that his days may be numbered. It is also a signal to Uttaranchal CM N.D. Tiwari to mend his ways and take along his opponents in the party or else he too can be sent packing.
Unlike in the past, when the Congress High Command gave a long rope to its CMs (in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh), it seems to have now decided to take a tough line insisting on accountability, specially where the party did not do well in the Lok Sabha elections. Elections in these states are due in the next two to three years.
The Congress chief had indicated her unhappiness with both Kerala and Punjab when no one from these two states was inducted in the Union Cabinet. Sonia had reportedly told her confidantes that the party was wiped out in the general elections in Kerala essentially because of the infighting.
The party high command has not been happy either with Amarinder Singh or Tiwari for the factionalism in the party in their respective states. The Amarinder-Bhattal war in Punjab and the Tiwari-Rawat tussle in Uttaranchal have not covered the party with glory.
After the Lok Sabha elections, there was speculation that Amarinder may be given the marching orders. But he stayed the hand of the high command by enacting the Punjab Termination of Agreements Bill, 2004, in the Assembly. Despite the Central leadership’s unhappiness, it could not move against him at the time for that would have made him a martyr, and placed the party in Punjab in an untenable position. But now, after Antony’s resignation, it may be easier to send Amarinder packing on the issue of accountability and not on the SYL issue. Observers note that Antony’s resignation is the forerunner of a larger plan, which may be put into motion.
End of an era
Ever since the UDF’s dismal show in Election 2004, it seemed a matter of time before the curtains came down on AK Antony’s chief ministerial stint in Kerala. By owning “moral responsibility”, the State’s “Mr Clean” has set an example others in his trade would find hard to emulate.
Antony had always rated high on the list of the Congress’s ‘model CMs’. An anti-corruption crusader, he was a sensible and result-oriented administrator. His developmental vision was one of his biggest assets. Last year’s high-profile Global Investor Meet in Kochi was the fruit of his sustained effort to project Kerala as investment-friendly, with particular focus on global IT majors.
With his accent on infrastructure, he pursued balanced progress for a State that had remained an economic laggard despite turning in top notch social sector grades. He also wooed Kerala’s sizeable NRI community, pushing utilisation of expatriate wealth for developmental purposes. His stress on technology-enabled growth stood in stark contrast to the Left’s anti-development agenda-disinterested concern for public welfare was all the more courageous in the face of the politics of populism.
Antony was equally intrepid about calling a spade a spade in a State where championship of communal groups and sectarian interests is the norm. Few Kerala leaders could have endorsed his criticism of misuse by “organised minorities” of “collective power”. Making up 45 per cent of the State’s population, Kerala’s minorities- Muslims and Christians-have traditionally driven poll arithmetic. That he could hold up a mirror to their politically patronised belligerence shows why Antony has always been considered a breed apart from the run-of-the-mill politician.
However, though he took on the Left effectively, Antony stumbled with intra-party dissidence. His hands were perhaps tied by the high command, which repeatedly chose to treat Karunakaran with kid-gloves. Yet a large part of the failure to stem rebellion was the fact Antony was himself a faction leader. As Chief Minister, he should have been a symbol of accommodation rather than the head of a clique, inviting electoral sabotage by rivals engaged in a power struggle.
Antony’s departure perhaps represents the end of an era, with the Congress in Kerala now seemingly poised for a makeover.
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