Mani becomes a problem for Oommen Chandy
Allegations of unholy relations between liquor traders and political leaders are nothing new in Kerala. However, the people of the State were stunned on October 31 when a bar owner claimed that Finance and law Minister KM Mani, chairman of the Kerala Congress(M), the third biggest constituent of the ruling coalition, had demanded five crore rupees as bribe and had taken one crore rupees of it to help the bar owners get the licences renewed for the 418 bars lying closed since April 1 for lack of required facilities. Quite expectedly, Mr Mani, his party and the entire ruling UDF denied the allegation. But KC(M) leaders alleged that the charge was part of a conspiracy hatched by the Congress and its Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
left with no choice, the Government ordered a farcical “quick verification” of the allegation by the Vigilance Department but firmly rejected calls for a more serious probe and the resignation of Mr Mani. It was soon ‘revealed' that Mr Mani was not the only Minister to allegedly take bribe from bar owners. The whistle-blower who had made the revelation had gone even to the extent of indicating that the Chief Minister himself might not be beyond suspicion. The series of allegations, though coming from liquor traders who are known not to hesitate to play any game to protect their interests, and the Government's obvious reluctance to react with stringent legal measures, strengthened the worst fears of the people about the liquor-politics links.
Though the scam-ridden UDF Government fell into a deep crisis of credibility, the differences among the communists in the Opposition lDF over the kind of probe they should demand into the scam and how they should stage their protest, ensured that there would be no threat to the Government’s survival. There are suspicions that this is part of an ‘adjustment politics' between the two fronts. It was the perfect situation for the Government to seek a settlement with the bar owners instead of to convince the people about its commitment to finding out the truth and punishing the guilty.
The bar scam broke out at a time when the Government was claiming that the 418 bars were kept closed as part of its liquor policy, which envisaged a total ban on liquor in the State in 10 years. The perception prevalent among the people is that, those in power had been viewing these bars as a goldmine. This is not the first time the Chandy Government has faced a credibility crisis. The approach of the Government was not much different in the solar scam, in which charges were made directly against Mr Chandy, his office, his Ministers and associates. Any move of the UDF Government with its survival instinct to ignore the interests of the people and go for a settlement with the bar owners instead of punishing the guilty on its own side, would be detrimental to its own interests. But for the moment, it does not seem to care.