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Kerala : Congress split leads to UDF cracks |
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Two constituents of the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala have deserted the alliance after the May 1 split in the party engineered by veteran politician K. Karunakaran. The two coalition partners which have decided to quit the UDF are the Kerala Congress Pillai and the Kerala Congress Jacob. They said with Karunakaran’s exit from the Congress, the UDF has become a body without its soul. In addition to these two groups, a breakaway faction of the RSP has also said goodbye to the UDF. All these three factions like Karunakaran’s new party have indicated their resolve to explore a closer political understanding with the Left Democratic Front.
The developments followed Karunakaran’s parleys with the leaders of these parties. All the three partners have also backed Karunakaran’s tirade against Chief Minister Oomman Chandy, by accusing him of being dictatorial and being hand-in-glove with a political and business caucus. They have also vowed to teach the UDF leadership a lesson by siding with the LDF in the coming by-elections in two Assembly seats. The developments are particularly bad for the Chief Minister as already the MLAs of the official Congress have started splitting into two groups, one saying Chandy was their leader and of others saying A.K. Antony was their’s. The departure of these allies will not affect the numerical strength of the UDF in the State Assembly, but would result in chipping away a significant section of its social and political base. The Kerala Congress factions command influence in the Christian belt of Kerala. The RSP faction has its pockets of influence in Kollam and Trivandrum districts which the UDF had been using to poach the LDF bases.
Earlier, the Congress in Kerala split with the faction led by senior party leader K. Karunakaran forming a new party, the National Congress (Indira). The creation of the new party took place at a convention held in front of the historic Sakthan Thampuran Palace. Karunakaran’s son and expelled Congress leader K. Muraleedharan was unanimously elected president of the new party. The convention approved a political resolution calling for a replication of the alliance of the Left forces and the secular and democratic parties, which is now prevailing at the Centre and in the State. The economic resolution adopted at the meeting calls for a pro-poor and pro-farmer economic policy and for the waiver of the debts of farmers.
In his inaugural speech, Karunakaran said that he had not actually formed a new party, but had revived the “real Congress”, which would be proved after the ensuring local body elections in the State. “It is the real Congress cleansed of all the dirt.” He made a scathing attack on Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and vowed to oust him from power.
The Congress appears to be uncertain about the handling of the split in the party unit in Kerala. While Muraleedharan remains expelled from the party, no action has been taken so far against Karunakaran. In normal cases, the action of splitting the party would have invited immediate expulsion but this has not happened. The stakes are high for the Congress in the next round of Assembly elections due in Kerala, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. Karunakaran’s exit will hit the party in Kerala. But the exact impact will take some time to unveil.
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