Govt support, Opp frailty ensure Mani's survival
It is now almost certain that Kerala's Congress-led UDF regime will survive the infamous bar bribe-Budget sale scam, involving its senior-most Cabinet Minister. This is thanks to the Government's alleged refusal to honour democratic principles, and the main Opposition, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led left Democratic Front’s, seeming reluctance to fulfil its duty of responding to the situation adequately and effectively. Despite the heap of evidence that has come out in the form of voice records pointing to Finance and law Minister KM Mani’s involvement in the scam, and even when sections within his own party feel that he should resign, the chairman of the Church-backed Kerala Congress (M), the third biggest ruling UDF constituent, has announced that he will continue in office. He has also said that he will present the 2015-2016 Budget even though several Congress leaders have demanded that he not do so.
However, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is standing solidly behind his Minister. Mr Mani, now 81 years old, is facing some of the most serious allegations any politician in the country has ever encountered. He is certainly the first Minister in Kerala to be accused of directly accepting bribe. And, perhaps, he is the first Finance Minister in the country to be accused of making money by selling Budget proposals to interested sectors. Mr Mani has been accused of taking crores of rupees from bar owners, offering to help them renew their licences after their bars were shut due to lack of facilities. According to reports, the Minister allegedly accepted as much as Rs23crore from gold merchants, bakers and rice mill owners in return for tax benefits in the Budget.
Mr Chandy, a man with great survival instincts, is sure to protect Mr Mani under any circumstance because the nine seats that the Kerala Congress (M) has in the Assembly are crucial for the stability of his Government. The ruling coalition has the backing of just 75 MlAs in the 140-member House. But what has astonished the common man is the reluctance of the CPI(M)-led Opposition to go all-out against the Government and the Finance Minister, even in the face of such a huge scam. So far, the left has not held a strong protest programme over the scandal.
The BJP has consistently accused the CPI(M) of entering into a secret pact with the Chandy regime. Suspicions of such an understanding had also come up in 2013 in the case of the infamous solar scam, which had brought the UDF Government to the brink of collapse, after it was alleged that the Chief Minister and his office were directly involved. The left had then effectively ensured the Government's survival by withdrawing its agitation at a crucial moment. With the Government showing no interest in honouring the concept of propriety, and the Opposition refusing to conduct its duty, what is clear is that Kerala has become an example of what a democracy should not be.