Former Congress leader Cherian Philip, presently a Marxist fellow-traveler, on Wednesday apologised for being part of a conspiracy in the Congress that led to the toppling of Kerala’s K Karunakaran Government in 1994 in the wake of the ISRO spy case, triggering intense debates in the party as well as outside over the ‘heinous’ power games played by a faction led by senior leader AK Antony and Oommen Chandy, State Chief Minister.
“Today is ‘leader’ Karunakaran’s fifth death anniversary. I am publicly apologising for being a partial participant in the heinous act which toppled him from the post of Chief Minister. I am doing this now as the sense of guilt is haunting me even after 20 years,” Cherian said in a Facebook post. While in Congress, he was considered as a virtual shadow of Antony.
During 1994-95, the ‘A’ group in the Congress, headed by Antony and Chandy, had tarnished Karunakaran’s image by describing him as a spy and nation’s enemy, Cherian said in the FB post. “Those who had submitted a chargesheet against him to the high command and held public meetings all over the State demanding his resignation should feel remorse at least at this stage,” he said.
The CPI(M) sympathiser went on to say that the horse-trading behind depriving Karunakaran of majority in the Congress legislative party was “heinous and unethical”. “I had told Karunakaran about my role (in dethroning him) in 1998 and worked hard to ensure his victory in the lok Sabha election in Thiruvananthapuram as an act of repentance,” Cherian said.
As the campaign within the Congress and outside over the ISRO spy case peaked, Karunakaran resigned as Chief Minister in March, 1994 making way for his bête noire AK Antony. All efforts made by Karunakaran after that for regaining supremacy in the party had failed miserably and had resulted in his departure from it at one stage only to return after several months.
The public apology offered by Cherian at this juncture is politically significant as the ‘I’ group in the party founded by Karunakaran and led currently by Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala has launched a furious battle against Chandy, one of the lead players in the games that resulted in Karunakaran’s dethronement.
On Wednesday, Chennithala took an indirect dig at Chandy through a Facebook post in which he said Karunakaran had followed a style of functioning by which he never appeased any particular sections but had ensured equal justice to all. Chennithala’s statement indirectly referred to the complaint that Chandy was pursuing a policy of appeasement of the minorities.
“For Karunakaran, development had never been a campaign instrument but something which the people should be able to understand through experience,” Chennithala said. The Home Minister’s statement is in a veiled reference to the alleged over-emphasis the Chief Minister has been giving to issue of development.
Chennithala’s Facebook post has appeared close on the heels of the controversy over a letter he had allegedly written to the Congress high command demanding leadership change in Kerala Government. He is said to have told the high command through the letter that the party and the UDF it was leading would not be able to win the next Assembly election under Chandy’s leadership.