Energy scam finally hits Kerala CM in the face
When the solar scam erupted in Kerala some two-and-a-half years ago, pushing the Congress-led UDF Government into a credibility crisis, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy took a position that he would put up with any humiliation to continue in his position. He thought this was necessary to bring out “the truth”. The ‘truth’ of the scam is yet to come out but the humiliations the Chief Minister of Kerala has been suffering over it have multiplied many times since then. At the moment, Mr Chandy is facing the prospect of becoming an accused in the case pertaining to the solar scam following a Vigilance Court's Thursday order for registration of an FIR against him on the basis of the charge levelled by Ms Saritha S Nair, the alleged main perpetrator of the scam, that she had paid him Rs1.90 crore as bribe. A similar order has been passed also against Congress's Power Minister Aryadan Muhammad, accused of taking Rs40 lakh from her. Still, the Chief Minister does not find it necessary to step down. His close confidant K Babu had last week resigned as Excise Minister on ‘moral grounds’ after the same court issued a similar order against him over the charge that he had taken Rs10 crore as bribe from bar owners. Mr Chandy's present attempt is to see if the Vigilance Court order against him could be overcome in the same way as the order against Mr Babu was stayed by the High Court on Thursday. All this is happening at a crucial political juncture: The two infamous scandals the solar scam and the bar bribery scam — have pushed the Government into a deep crisis, when just less than four months are remaining for the Assembly election. While the first scam allegedly involves the Chief Minister himself and several Congress leaders including Ministers, MPs and MlAs, the second scandal affects some of the seniormost members of the State Cabinet and even Mr Chandy himself though indirectly. Indications of how shameful the solar scandal can become as far as Keralites are concerned, came out in the past two days when Ms Nair told the judicial commission looking into the incident that the Chief Minister had been her protector, prompting the CPI(M)-led Opposition lDF and the BJP to demand the Government's immediate resignation or removal. The saga of scams under the UDF regime does not end there. Trapped in the bar bribery scam, Mr KM Mani resigned as Finance Minister in November. He was accused of taking one crore rupees from bar owners.
The Congress and the UDF Government have already lost the battle of perception over the two scandals. In addition to that, the Chief Minister's alleged stubbornness is threatening to cause law and order problems, the first signs of which were witnessed across the State on Thursday with intense protests breaking out on the streets and the police using brutal force against the protesters. What is apparent is that the situation is unlikely to improve for the Congress in the coming weeks. It means that the May election will be a tough hurdle for the party and its allies. This should cause immense worry to the Congress high command. It is up to the party to decide whether it must change or perish. It should not assume that the people are in the habit of putting up with anything.