BRP BHASKAR
Gulf Today
The Lavalin scandal did not figure prominently in the United Democratic Front's (UDF) election campaign, which is drawing to a close. That, however, does not mean the Left Democratic Front (LDF) can breathe easy.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan's remark that the Lavalin issue has petered out is indicative of the party's satisfaction over the apparent success of party's bid to limit its electoral impact.
The case relates to a deal which Vijayan, as Electricity Minister in the last LDF government, had negotiated with the Canadian company, SNC Lavalin, for modernisation of some power stations.
The moment the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which investigated the scandal, decided to arraign Vijayan, who is a member of the CPI-M politburo, as an accused in the corruption case, the party launched a propaganda offensive alleging the Congress-led government at the Centre was implicating him with a political motive.
Initially, the CPI-M had tried to pin the blame for the deal on the previous UDF regime, which had first signed a contract with Lavalin.
What the UDF government signed was a consultancy agreement, worth only Rs260 million.
Vijayan's negotiations resulted in a supply contract worth Rs 3.75 billion.
Loopholes in the new contract enabled the company to get away without fulfilling its contractual obligations.
The bid to discredit the CBI investigation as politically motivated was part of a calculated strategy to contain the fallout from the scandal. Another part of the strategy was to delay the government's response to the agency's request for permission to prosecute Vijayan and the former bureaucrats who figure in the list of accused.
The government could have acted quickly on the request after consulting the Law Department. But, acting at the party's instance, it decided to seek the opinion of the Advocate General.
A non-government organisation petitioned the high court in an attempt to speed up the process. The court allowed the government three months' time to take a decision. It also left the door open for the government to seek more time if necessary.
Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan, who is in a minority in the council of ministers, while talking to newspersons, made no effort to hide his displeasure over these developments.
By delaying a decision on the CBI's request for permission to prosecute Vijayan, the party was able to avert the possibility of his arrest before the election.
Half way through the campaign the UDF realised that the Lavalin issue had been pushed back by the controversy over the CPI-M's ties with Abdul Naser Ma'dani's People's Democratic Party (PDP), which hogged the most attention.
Although the alliance decided to push the issue to the top, its big guns did not highlight it in campaign speeches even afterwards. This was what prompted Pinarayi Vijayan to state that the issue had petered way.
The PDP issue also did much damage to the CPI-M. When it found that the camaraderie with Ma'dani was doing more harm than good, the party leaders stopped sharing the dais with him. They advised Ma'dani to campaign separately.
It will be wrong to presume that Lavalin became a non-issue in the election. It remained before the public throughout as lower level leaders of the UDF and the media harped on it all the time.
In retrospect, the CPI-M strategy appears to have misfired. The attempts to question the credibility of the investigative agency and delay the prosecution conveyed the impression that party had something to hide.
Whatever the opinion the Advocate General gives, the CBI will be able to go ahead with the prosecution of all accused, including Pinarayi Vijayan. On several occasions, the Supreme Court has stated that the CBI can go ahead with a corruption case even if government sanction is not forthcoming.
The agency approached the government for permission because it is charging the accused with criminal conspiracy, besides corruption. Even if the cabinet decides against granting permission to prosecute Vijayan, the governor can accord sanction.
There is also the possibility of some public interest group challenging the government's decision to refuse sanction for prosecution. It will then be for the court to take a final decision.
There is one scenario in which the CPI-M can stave off Pinarayi Vijayan's prosecution.
That hinges on the possibility of the emergence of a new central government, which is dependent upon on the party's support for survival and therefore willing to take a politically motivated decision to get him off the hook.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
High-profile candidate comes under fierce attack
BRP BHASKAR
Gulf Today
Of the 217 candidates seeking the 20 Lok Sabha seats from Kerala, there is one with a name that may be recognised beyond the Malayali diaspora: Shashi Tharoor, former Under Secretary General of the United Nations.
Tharoor, who quit the UN bureaucracy after losing to Ban Ki Moon in the election for the Secretary General's post in 2006, is the Congress candidate in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency.
His website describes him as an author, peace-keeper, refugee worker and human rights activist and the recipient of several awards, including a Commonwealth Writers Award and the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the highest honour for Overseas Indians.
In 1998, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, named him a "global leader of tomorrow" As it happens, Tharoor is also the one who has attracted the most vicious attack.
His detractors include, apart from the Left Democratic Front, various Islamic groups and anti-Coca Cola agitators.
Born in London of non-resident Keralite parents, he has spent all his life outside the state.
After higher education in the US, he joined the UN service in 1978, at the age of 22, and went on to become its youngest Under Secretary General.
Tharoor was India's official nominee for the Secretary General's post.
Many considered the government's decision to sponsor him impolitic.
The post has never gone to a person from a big country and the decision to seek the post for an Indian was inconsistent with the country's known desire for a place in an expanded Security Council.
Since leaving the UN, Tharoor has been spending time in New York, Dubai and Kerala.
Afras Ventures, a Dubai firm, of which he is the chairman, has taken up educational activity in Kerala with a view to helping migrant jobseekers to upgrade their skills.
Tharoor publicly expressed his desire to enter parliament last year. The Congress party in the state offered little encouragement. However, the national leadership picked him for the prestigious Thiruvananthapuram seat.
Shashi Tharoor is a candidate who will appeal to large sections of the educated middle class voters of Thiruvananthapuram, especially those who loathe the common variety of politicians.
This constituency had warmly welcomed the late VK Krishna Menon, who, like Tharoor, had spent most of his life outside the state, after being rejected by Mumbai.
Some young bloggers are among the non-party voters who have come forward to support Tharoor. They met the candidate and came away impressed with his vision for the city and the state.
But a candidate cannot limit his appeal to any one section. So, Tharoor, donning traditional Kerala costumes, has been sweating it out in the open, wooing the likes of slum-dwellers and fisher folks.
Thiruvananthapuram is a constituency which one cannot take for granted. Former chief minister Pattom Thanu Pillai (PSP), former Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary MN Govindan Nair and poet ONV Kurup are among those whom the city's voters have rejected in the past.
The seat, which has changed hands several times, has been with the CPI since 2004. The party's district secretary, P. Ramachandran Nair, is the candidate this time.
The main thrust of the Left Democratic Front's attack on Tharoor is that he is pro-American and pro-Israel.
Being pro-American is a cardinal sin in the eyes of Left supporters and being pro-Israel is an equally cardinal sin in the eyes of Muslims. Tharoor has sought to rebut the charge of being pro-American by pointing out that it was the US which had blocked his election as the UN chief executive.
To counter the charge of being pro-Israel, he is distributing an article he had written declaring that a sovereign Palestine state was his dream and circulating photographs he had taken with Yasser Arafat.
As a candidate handpicked by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor is seen as a likely central minister in the event of the party heading the next government.
This gives him a natural advantage over his rivals, who include two former state ministers, A. Neelalohithadasan Nadar (Bahujan Samaj Party) and MP Gangadharan (Nationalist Congress Party). Who would not like his representative to be a minister?
That Tharoor may become a minister is what worries those who have been agitating against the Coca Cola plant at Plachimada in Palakkad district. He is a member of an advisery committee of a foundation set up by the Coca Cola company for charitable activities.
While defending his association with the company's charitable work, he also publicly endorsed its position on its disputes with the Plachimada agitators.
Gulf Today
Of the 217 candidates seeking the 20 Lok Sabha seats from Kerala, there is one with a name that may be recognised beyond the Malayali diaspora: Shashi Tharoor, former Under Secretary General of the United Nations.
Tharoor, who quit the UN bureaucracy after losing to Ban Ki Moon in the election for the Secretary General's post in 2006, is the Congress candidate in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency.
His website describes him as an author, peace-keeper, refugee worker and human rights activist and the recipient of several awards, including a Commonwealth Writers Award and the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the highest honour for Overseas Indians.
In 1998, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, named him a "global leader of tomorrow" As it happens, Tharoor is also the one who has attracted the most vicious attack.
His detractors include, apart from the Left Democratic Front, various Islamic groups and anti-Coca Cola agitators.
Born in London of non-resident Keralite parents, he has spent all his life outside the state.
After higher education in the US, he joined the UN service in 1978, at the age of 22, and went on to become its youngest Under Secretary General.
Tharoor was India's official nominee for the Secretary General's post.
Many considered the government's decision to sponsor him impolitic.
The post has never gone to a person from a big country and the decision to seek the post for an Indian was inconsistent with the country's known desire for a place in an expanded Security Council.
Since leaving the UN, Tharoor has been spending time in New York, Dubai and Kerala.
Afras Ventures, a Dubai firm, of which he is the chairman, has taken up educational activity in Kerala with a view to helping migrant jobseekers to upgrade their skills.
Tharoor publicly expressed his desire to enter parliament last year. The Congress party in the state offered little encouragement. However, the national leadership picked him for the prestigious Thiruvananthapuram seat.
Shashi Tharoor is a candidate who will appeal to large sections of the educated middle class voters of Thiruvananthapuram, especially those who loathe the common variety of politicians.
This constituency had warmly welcomed the late VK Krishna Menon, who, like Tharoor, had spent most of his life outside the state, after being rejected by Mumbai.
Some young bloggers are among the non-party voters who have come forward to support Tharoor. They met the candidate and came away impressed with his vision for the city and the state.
But a candidate cannot limit his appeal to any one section. So, Tharoor, donning traditional Kerala costumes, has been sweating it out in the open, wooing the likes of slum-dwellers and fisher folks.
Thiruvananthapuram is a constituency which one cannot take for granted. Former chief minister Pattom Thanu Pillai (PSP), former Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary MN Govindan Nair and poet ONV Kurup are among those whom the city's voters have rejected in the past.
The seat, which has changed hands several times, has been with the CPI since 2004. The party's district secretary, P. Ramachandran Nair, is the candidate this time.
The main thrust of the Left Democratic Front's attack on Tharoor is that he is pro-American and pro-Israel.
Being pro-American is a cardinal sin in the eyes of Left supporters and being pro-Israel is an equally cardinal sin in the eyes of Muslims. Tharoor has sought to rebut the charge of being pro-American by pointing out that it was the US which had blocked his election as the UN chief executive.
To counter the charge of being pro-Israel, he is distributing an article he had written declaring that a sovereign Palestine state was his dream and circulating photographs he had taken with Yasser Arafat.
As a candidate handpicked by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor is seen as a likely central minister in the event of the party heading the next government.
This gives him a natural advantage over his rivals, who include two former state ministers, A. Neelalohithadasan Nadar (Bahujan Samaj Party) and MP Gangadharan (Nationalist Congress Party). Who would not like his representative to be a minister?
That Tharoor may become a minister is what worries those who have been agitating against the Coca Cola plant at Plachimada in Palakkad district. He is a member of an advisery committee of a foundation set up by the Coca Cola company for charitable activities.
While defending his association with the company's charitable work, he also publicly endorsed its position on its disputes with the Plachimada agitators.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Claims and counter-claims leave voters confused
BRP BHASKAR
Gulf Today
As the Lok Sabha poll enters the final phase, the high-pitched campaigns of Kerala's two electoral fronts, which are fairly well matched in terms of popular support, are generating more heat than light. Nominations in the state, which goes to the polls on April 16, closes on Monday.
Most of the candidates of the Left Democratic Front(LDF) and the United Democratic Front(UDF) and the parties outside these alliances have filed their nomination papers.
However, the final line-up will be known only on Thursday, the last day for withdrawal of nominations.
Last week the decibel level of the campaigns rose as both the LDF and the UDF held a series of constituency-level conventions, where they hurled charges against each other.
The news channel debates provided candidates of the two fronts as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) the opportunity to present their cases before the public.
Early on, the media focused attention on the ties the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) had forged with the People's Democratic Party(PDP) of Abdul Naser Ma'dani, much to the annoyance of its LDF partners, the Communist Party of Idia(CPI) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party(RSP).
Since his acquittal in the Coimbatore bomb blast case, after being in jail for more than nine years as an undertrial prisoner, Ma'dani has made Malappuram his main area of activity, raising a direct challenge to the Indian Union Muslim League(IUML), which has been the major political force in the Muslim-majority district since Independence.
Mahdani played a key role in the CPI-M's decision to put up Husain Randathani, a college principal, as the LDF-backed independent candidate in Ponnani.
He was the star attraction at the LDF convention in that constituency, which was inaugurated by CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
There was a spate of reports in the media, based on statements reportedly made by some youths during police interrogation, alleging that suspected terrorists had contacts with Ma'dani or his wife.
It is not clear how the testimony, which was recorded by the police months ago, reached the media at election time.
The Ma'dani connection cast its shadow on the CPI-M and the state government too.
While Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the allegations against the PDP leader were not new and there was no need for any investigation, Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan said the allegations would be investigated.
Ma'dani, on his part, said he was ready to face any investigation.
The CPI-M national leadership stood by the state unit's electoral understanding with the PDP but found it necessary to declare that there was no proposal to admit it into the LDF.
The Mahdani factor put the CPI-M on the defensive.
But, more importantly, it diverted popular attention from other issues which were expected to dominate the campaigns of the two fronts.
At week's end, both sides were trying to shift the focus to other issues.
In a bid to turn the spotlight on the Lavalin case, a UDF delegation met Governor RS Gavai to complain about the inordinate delay in responding to the Central Bureau of Investigation's request for permission to prosecute Pinarayi Vijayan, whom it has named as an accused in the corruption case.
There were indications earlier that the UDF would take full advantage of the Lavalin case, which is the first corruption case in which a CPI-M Politburo member has been named as an accused.
It had described Lavalin as an even greater scandal than Bofors.
With the news of a suspicious arms deal with Israel breaking, the LDF believes it has a powerful weapon with which to counter the Lavalin scandal.
The Israeli deal is twice as large as the Lavalin contract.
All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi, on a visit to Kerala early this month, claimed that the Congress-led government at the Centre had sanctioned the state schemes worth Rs 400 billion during the past years, but the LDF government here was no able to deliver the goods. He did not specify the schemes.
In this year's budget, finance minister TM Thomas Isaac announced that the state would make investments to the tune of Rs100 billion. He too did not specify the schemes.
Campaigners on both sides fling these figures in election speeches.
Is Abdul Naser Ma'dani an extremist? Was there corruption in the Lavalin deal? Has the Centre given Kerala a few hundred billions? Is the state government investing 100 billion? Amid the claims and counter-claims of the campaigners, answers to such questions elude the voters.
Gulf Today
As the Lok Sabha poll enters the final phase, the high-pitched campaigns of Kerala's two electoral fronts, which are fairly well matched in terms of popular support, are generating more heat than light. Nominations in the state, which goes to the polls on April 16, closes on Monday.
Most of the candidates of the Left Democratic Front(LDF) and the United Democratic Front(UDF) and the parties outside these alliances have filed their nomination papers.
However, the final line-up will be known only on Thursday, the last day for withdrawal of nominations.
Last week the decibel level of the campaigns rose as both the LDF and the UDF held a series of constituency-level conventions, where they hurled charges against each other.
The news channel debates provided candidates of the two fronts as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) the opportunity to present their cases before the public.
Early on, the media focused attention on the ties the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) had forged with the People's Democratic Party(PDP) of Abdul Naser Ma'dani, much to the annoyance of its LDF partners, the Communist Party of Idia(CPI) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party(RSP).
Since his acquittal in the Coimbatore bomb blast case, after being in jail for more than nine years as an undertrial prisoner, Ma'dani has made Malappuram his main area of activity, raising a direct challenge to the Indian Union Muslim League(IUML), which has been the major political force in the Muslim-majority district since Independence.
Mahdani played a key role in the CPI-M's decision to put up Husain Randathani, a college principal, as the LDF-backed independent candidate in Ponnani.
He was the star attraction at the LDF convention in that constituency, which was inaugurated by CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
There was a spate of reports in the media, based on statements reportedly made by some youths during police interrogation, alleging that suspected terrorists had contacts with Ma'dani or his wife.
It is not clear how the testimony, which was recorded by the police months ago, reached the media at election time.
The Ma'dani connection cast its shadow on the CPI-M and the state government too.
While Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the allegations against the PDP leader were not new and there was no need for any investigation, Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan said the allegations would be investigated.
Ma'dani, on his part, said he was ready to face any investigation.
The CPI-M national leadership stood by the state unit's electoral understanding with the PDP but found it necessary to declare that there was no proposal to admit it into the LDF.
The Mahdani factor put the CPI-M on the defensive.
But, more importantly, it diverted popular attention from other issues which were expected to dominate the campaigns of the two fronts.
At week's end, both sides were trying to shift the focus to other issues.
In a bid to turn the spotlight on the Lavalin case, a UDF delegation met Governor RS Gavai to complain about the inordinate delay in responding to the Central Bureau of Investigation's request for permission to prosecute Pinarayi Vijayan, whom it has named as an accused in the corruption case.
There were indications earlier that the UDF would take full advantage of the Lavalin case, which is the first corruption case in which a CPI-M Politburo member has been named as an accused.
It had described Lavalin as an even greater scandal than Bofors.
With the news of a suspicious arms deal with Israel breaking, the LDF believes it has a powerful weapon with which to counter the Lavalin scandal.
The Israeli deal is twice as large as the Lavalin contract.
All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi, on a visit to Kerala early this month, claimed that the Congress-led government at the Centre had sanctioned the state schemes worth Rs 400 billion during the past years, but the LDF government here was no able to deliver the goods. He did not specify the schemes.
In this year's budget, finance minister TM Thomas Isaac announced that the state would make investments to the tune of Rs100 billion. He too did not specify the schemes.
Campaigners on both sides fling these figures in election speeches.
Is Abdul Naser Ma'dani an extremist? Was there corruption in the Lavalin deal? Has the Centre given Kerala a few hundred billions? Is the state government investing 100 billion? Amid the claims and counter-claims of the campaigners, answers to such questions elude the voters.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Two-front system faces challenge from inside and outside
BRP BHASKAR
Gulf Today
The two-front system that has dominated Kerala's electoral scene for more than two decades is facing severe challenges from inside and outside, casting a shadow on their future.
Although public attention is centred on the fronts, elections in the state are now multi-cornered. In the 2004 Lok Sabha poll, there was no constituency which had fewer than five candidates. Out of the 20 constituencies, 17 had six or more candidates each.
For long, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been striving to break through the solid phalanx put up by the rival alliances, the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by the Congress party and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). So far, it has not been able to win even an assembly seat.
When the BJP-led coalition was in power at the Centre, the party got one of its state leaders, O. Rajagopal, into the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh and made him a minister.His promotion of the state's interests earned him a personal following but it was not enough to win a Lok Sabha seat.
The BJP contested 19 Lok Sabha seats last time and garnered 10.4% of the votes polled.
However, all candidates excepting Rajagopal and another forfeited their deposits. In the assembly elections of 2006 the party's vote share dropped to 4.8%.
The BJP is not the only national party looking for a breakthrough in the state.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was in the arena last time with 14 candidates. All forfeited their deposits. The party's vote share was less than 0.5%.
The BSP is in the field again in a big way, and Mayawati was in Thiruvananthapuram during the weekend to boost its candidates' prospects.
The party, which captured power in UP last year by reaching out beyond its traditional Dalit base, is planning to replicate that experiment in Kerala. It has fielded this time two experienced non-Dalit politicians, A. Neelalohithadasan Nadar (Thiruvanathapuram) and KK Nair (Pathanamthitta).
Neelalohithadasan, who began public life as a Congressman, shot into fame decades ago by defeating Communist Party of India (CPI) veteran MN Govindan Nair in Thiruvananthapuram by mobilising the support of his backward class Nadar community. A Janata Dal (S) minister in the last LDF regime, he had to quit the party and the government following allegations of sexual harassment.
KK Nair, who was first elected to the assembly from Pathanamthitta as an Independent, had kept a government led by K. Karunakaran in office when it was reduced to a minority. The price he extracted was the formation of Pathanamthitta district.
Since neither the LDF nor the UDF showed interest in an alliance with it, the Nationalist Congress Party NCP), which is a recognised national party, is in the field all by itself.
The party's state president, K. Muraleedharan, who repeatedly threatened to contest all the 20 seats, has now decided, in consultation with the national president, Sharad Pawar, to put up just four candidates.
Apart from these national parties, some local players are also in the picture. They include breakaway Left elements.
Both the fronts are in disarray. The LDF's problems are organisational. There is deep discontent among its constituents.
The Congress has no serious problems with its UDF partners. However, there is discontent in the party over the choice of candidates.
The CPI-M had its way in Ponnani, but its cosy relationship with Abdul Naser Mahdani's People's Democratic Party(PDP) has embittered the CPI and the Revolutionary Socialist Party. Mahdani was the star of the LDF show at Kuttipuram, which was inaugurated by CPI-M secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
The PDP leaders were not seen at the LDF conventions in the CPI constituencies.
The CPI-M has to contend with the threat posed by dissidents in the Onchiyam area of Vadakara, who have set up a parallel party unit. It has also to reckon with the influence of dissidents in the Shoranur area of Palakkad, who demonstrated their popular support in the municipal by-elections.
The Left co-ordination committee floated by the dissidents is fielding candidates in five constituencies, including Vadakara and Palakkad.
The Marxist Communist Party of India (United), another dissident outfit, is putting up two candidates.
The CPI-M apparently faces more threats from inside and outside its front than the Congress. However, it is doubtful if the Congress machinery is capable of taking full advantage of its rival's discomfiture.
Gulf Today
The two-front system that has dominated Kerala's electoral scene for more than two decades is facing severe challenges from inside and outside, casting a shadow on their future.
Although public attention is centred on the fronts, elections in the state are now multi-cornered. In the 2004 Lok Sabha poll, there was no constituency which had fewer than five candidates. Out of the 20 constituencies, 17 had six or more candidates each.
For long, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been striving to break through the solid phalanx put up by the rival alliances, the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by the Congress party and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). So far, it has not been able to win even an assembly seat.
When the BJP-led coalition was in power at the Centre, the party got one of its state leaders, O. Rajagopal, into the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh and made him a minister.His promotion of the state's interests earned him a personal following but it was not enough to win a Lok Sabha seat.
The BJP contested 19 Lok Sabha seats last time and garnered 10.4% of the votes polled.
However, all candidates excepting Rajagopal and another forfeited their deposits. In the assembly elections of 2006 the party's vote share dropped to 4.8%.
The BJP is not the only national party looking for a breakthrough in the state.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was in the arena last time with 14 candidates. All forfeited their deposits. The party's vote share was less than 0.5%.
The BSP is in the field again in a big way, and Mayawati was in Thiruvananthapuram during the weekend to boost its candidates' prospects.
The party, which captured power in UP last year by reaching out beyond its traditional Dalit base, is planning to replicate that experiment in Kerala. It has fielded this time two experienced non-Dalit politicians, A. Neelalohithadasan Nadar (Thiruvanathapuram) and KK Nair (Pathanamthitta).
Neelalohithadasan, who began public life as a Congressman, shot into fame decades ago by defeating Communist Party of India (CPI) veteran MN Govindan Nair in Thiruvananthapuram by mobilising the support of his backward class Nadar community. A Janata Dal (S) minister in the last LDF regime, he had to quit the party and the government following allegations of sexual harassment.
KK Nair, who was first elected to the assembly from Pathanamthitta as an Independent, had kept a government led by K. Karunakaran in office when it was reduced to a minority. The price he extracted was the formation of Pathanamthitta district.
Since neither the LDF nor the UDF showed interest in an alliance with it, the Nationalist Congress Party NCP), which is a recognised national party, is in the field all by itself.
The party's state president, K. Muraleedharan, who repeatedly threatened to contest all the 20 seats, has now decided, in consultation with the national president, Sharad Pawar, to put up just four candidates.
Apart from these national parties, some local players are also in the picture. They include breakaway Left elements.
Both the fronts are in disarray. The LDF's problems are organisational. There is deep discontent among its constituents.
The Congress has no serious problems with its UDF partners. However, there is discontent in the party over the choice of candidates.
The CPI-M had its way in Ponnani, but its cosy relationship with Abdul Naser Mahdani's People's Democratic Party(PDP) has embittered the CPI and the Revolutionary Socialist Party. Mahdani was the star of the LDF show at Kuttipuram, which was inaugurated by CPI-M secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
The PDP leaders were not seen at the LDF conventions in the CPI constituencies.
The CPI-M has to contend with the threat posed by dissidents in the Onchiyam area of Vadakara, who have set up a parallel party unit. It has also to reckon with the influence of dissidents in the Shoranur area of Palakkad, who demonstrated their popular support in the municipal by-elections.
The Left co-ordination committee floated by the dissidents is fielding candidates in five constituencies, including Vadakara and Palakkad.
The Marxist Communist Party of India (United), another dissident outfit, is putting up two candidates.
The CPI-M apparently faces more threats from inside and outside its front than the Congress. However, it is doubtful if the Congress machinery is capable of taking full advantage of its rival's discomfiture.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
‘Traditional’ ulema and ‘modern’ Islamic education in Kerala
YOGINDER SIKAND
Countercurrents.org
In contrast to the Jamaat-e Islami and the Kerala Nadwat ul-Mujahidin, the ‘Sunni’ ulema of Kerala, like their counterparts in north India, were slow in taking to modern education, sometimes even castigating it as ‘un-Islamic’.
Numerous ‘Sunni’ ulema in fact issued fatwas against Jamaat and Nadwat leaders who encouraged Muslims to take to modern, in addition to religious, education. However, in recent years, the situation has been drastically transformed.
Today, leading Kerala ‘Sunni’ ulema are actively involved in promoting modern education, including the modernization of traditional madrasa education.
MORE
Countercurrents.org
In contrast to the Jamaat-e Islami and the Kerala Nadwat ul-Mujahidin, the ‘Sunni’ ulema of Kerala, like their counterparts in north India, were slow in taking to modern education, sometimes even castigating it as ‘un-Islamic’.
Numerous ‘Sunni’ ulema in fact issued fatwas against Jamaat and Nadwat leaders who encouraged Muslims to take to modern, in addition to religious, education. However, in recent years, the situation has been drastically transformed.
Today, leading Kerala ‘Sunni’ ulema are actively involved in promoting modern education, including the modernization of traditional madrasa education.
MORE
Muslim Education Society's work commended
Yoginder Sikand, in an article circulated by Countercurrents.org highlights the record of the Muslim Education Society (MES) of Kerala, which he sees as a commendable community initiative for educational empowerment.
One of the major factors for the high literacy rate among Kerala’s Muslims—who are among the most educated Muslim communities in India—is the vast network of educational institutions that Muslim community leaders have established across the state, he says. Of these, the largest and one of the most influential is the Calicut-based Muslim Educational Society.
Over to Sikand’s article.
One of the major factors for the high literacy rate among Kerala’s Muslims—who are among the most educated Muslim communities in India—is the vast network of educational institutions that Muslim community leaders have established across the state, he says. Of these, the largest and one of the most influential is the Calicut-based Muslim Educational Society.
Over to Sikand’s article.
Monday, March 16, 2009
LDF realises united we stand, divided we fall
BRP BHASKAR
Gulf Today
With the two Communist parties engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation, the Left Democratic Front, which rules Kerala, is caught in the worst crisis in the three decades of its existence.
Realising that the front's future is at stake, the national leadership of the two parties have urged the state units to resolve the differences amicably. Mediators are working on a face-saving formula.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which heads the front, and the Communist Party of India (CPI), the second largest partner, fell out on the issue of a common candidate to challenge the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in the Ponnani constituency, which it has always won.
Trouble began when the CPI-M, at the instance of People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abdul Naser Mahdani, who has offered support to the LDF, sponsored Husain Randathani, a college principal, as an Independent candidate for Ponnani.
The CPI refused to endorse Randathani as giving Ponnani to him will reduce its share of seats from four to three.
It proposed AP Kunhamu, who was associated with a pro-CPI bank employees union, as the LDF-backed independent.
CPI-M blackballed Kunhamu, saying he is close to the National Development Front NDF), which it considers an extremist outfit.
However, on Sunday, Randathani, apparently at the CPI-M's behest, made an attempt to win the CPI's favour.
Matters came to a head when CPI state secretary Veliyam Bhargavan, after heated exchanges with CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, walked out of the LDF meeting which was to have finalised division of seats.
At a press conference, he announced that the CPI would put up candidates for all CPI-M seats if the LDF did not accept its candidate in Ponnani.
He also said the party would stay away from the LDF's district conventions scheduled for the weekend.
Pinarayi Vijayan sought to mollify the CPI by offering to protect its share of four seats. However, he did not withdraw his party's support to Randathani, who has already started campaigning.
Vijayan reminded Bhargavan that when the CPI fought alone last time most of its candidates had forfeited their security deposits.
When the LDF began talks on seat division, the Revolutionary Socialist Party demanded that the Kollam seat, which the CPI-M had taken from it in the last elections, be returned.
It threatened to pull out NK Premachandran, its nominee in the state cabinet, if its claim was overlooked.
The CPI-M ignored the threat. The RSP decided to swallow its words and remain in the government.
The CPI-M asked the Janata Dal (S) to return the Kozhikode seat, which its leader, MP Veerendrakumar, had successfully contested in the last two elections, and take Wayanad instead.
Since the LDF does not seem to have a winning chance in Waynad, the JD (S) turned down the suggestion.
It said it was ready to give up its cabinet berth and all other posts held by it as a member of the alliance if it was denied the Kozhikode seat.
Taking into account the CPI's boycott threat, the CPI-M postponed the district-level conventions of the LDF.
However, it activated its cadres in all constituencies other than those of the CPI. In Ponnani, the party cadres are active in Randathani's campaign.
As the week drew to a close, the CPI district committees were busy drawing up lists of candidates for all the seats. The party's ministers were said to be clearing pending files in preparation for vacation of office.
The CPI-M considers these moves part of the CPI's pressure tactics. It expects the CPI to remain in the LDF as there is no viable alternative before it. Under the seat sharing arrangement worked out by the UDF, the Congress is to contest 17 seats, the Muslim League two and the Kerala Congress (Mani) one.
The Congress has not finalised its candidates so far. With a large number of aspirants in the field, the task is by no means easy.
Some observers believe the party is wilfully delaying the selection process, going on in New Delhi, to know the outcome of the rift in the LDF.
The Congress has already enlisted the support of AK Abdullakutty, Kannur MP, whom the CPI-M recently expelled.
It is also reportedly considering giving him the party ticket to contest from Kannur or Kasargode.
Two factors threaten to scuttle middlemen's efforts to find an amicable solution to the problems in the LDF. One is Husain Randathani's refusal to withdraw from the contest and the CPI-M's reluctance to forsake him. The other is Mahdani's threat to put up candidates in all constituencies where the CPI contests if it does not accept Randathani in Ponnani.
Gulf Today
With the two Communist parties engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation, the Left Democratic Front, which rules Kerala, is caught in the worst crisis in the three decades of its existence.
Realising that the front's future is at stake, the national leadership of the two parties have urged the state units to resolve the differences amicably. Mediators are working on a face-saving formula.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which heads the front, and the Communist Party of India (CPI), the second largest partner, fell out on the issue of a common candidate to challenge the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in the Ponnani constituency, which it has always won.
Trouble began when the CPI-M, at the instance of People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abdul Naser Mahdani, who has offered support to the LDF, sponsored Husain Randathani, a college principal, as an Independent candidate for Ponnani.
The CPI refused to endorse Randathani as giving Ponnani to him will reduce its share of seats from four to three.
It proposed AP Kunhamu, who was associated with a pro-CPI bank employees union, as the LDF-backed independent.
CPI-M blackballed Kunhamu, saying he is close to the National Development Front NDF), which it considers an extremist outfit.
However, on Sunday, Randathani, apparently at the CPI-M's behest, made an attempt to win the CPI's favour.
Matters came to a head when CPI state secretary Veliyam Bhargavan, after heated exchanges with CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, walked out of the LDF meeting which was to have finalised division of seats.
At a press conference, he announced that the CPI would put up candidates for all CPI-M seats if the LDF did not accept its candidate in Ponnani.
He also said the party would stay away from the LDF's district conventions scheduled for the weekend.
Pinarayi Vijayan sought to mollify the CPI by offering to protect its share of four seats. However, he did not withdraw his party's support to Randathani, who has already started campaigning.
Vijayan reminded Bhargavan that when the CPI fought alone last time most of its candidates had forfeited their security deposits.
When the LDF began talks on seat division, the Revolutionary Socialist Party demanded that the Kollam seat, which the CPI-M had taken from it in the last elections, be returned.
It threatened to pull out NK Premachandran, its nominee in the state cabinet, if its claim was overlooked.
The CPI-M ignored the threat. The RSP decided to swallow its words and remain in the government.
The CPI-M asked the Janata Dal (S) to return the Kozhikode seat, which its leader, MP Veerendrakumar, had successfully contested in the last two elections, and take Wayanad instead.
Since the LDF does not seem to have a winning chance in Waynad, the JD (S) turned down the suggestion.
It said it was ready to give up its cabinet berth and all other posts held by it as a member of the alliance if it was denied the Kozhikode seat.
Taking into account the CPI's boycott threat, the CPI-M postponed the district-level conventions of the LDF.
However, it activated its cadres in all constituencies other than those of the CPI. In Ponnani, the party cadres are active in Randathani's campaign.
As the week drew to a close, the CPI district committees were busy drawing up lists of candidates for all the seats. The party's ministers were said to be clearing pending files in preparation for vacation of office.
The CPI-M considers these moves part of the CPI's pressure tactics. It expects the CPI to remain in the LDF as there is no viable alternative before it. Under the seat sharing arrangement worked out by the UDF, the Congress is to contest 17 seats, the Muslim League two and the Kerala Congress (Mani) one.
The Congress has not finalised its candidates so far. With a large number of aspirants in the field, the task is by no means easy.
Some observers believe the party is wilfully delaying the selection process, going on in New Delhi, to know the outcome of the rift in the LDF.
The Congress has already enlisted the support of AK Abdullakutty, Kannur MP, whom the CPI-M recently expelled.
It is also reportedly considering giving him the party ticket to contest from Kannur or Kasargode.
Two factors threaten to scuttle middlemen's efforts to find an amicable solution to the problems in the LDF. One is Husain Randathani's refusal to withdraw from the contest and the CPI-M's reluctance to forsake him. The other is Mahdani's threat to put up candidates in all constituencies where the CPI contests if it does not accept Randathani in Ponnani.
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