Re-energized by the exemption of State CPI(M) secretary Pinarayi Vijayan from the SNC lavalin corruption case by a Special CBI Court the other day, Kerala’s Opposition lDF has started a determined bid to topple the Congress-led UDF Government after the lok Sabha polls and install its own Government, preferably through a mid-term Assembly election.
CPI(M) Politburo member and Deputy Opposition leader in the Assembly Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Wednesday gave clear indications of such a move by stating that there would be change of rule in the State after the coming lok Sabha polls. He said the left would not want to topple the UDF Government headed by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy through horse-trading.
According to sources, the left would want the Chandy regime to fall due to an implosion in the UDF as there is every chance of further intensification of the dissatisfaction among the allies of Congress over the functioning of Chandy — against whom serious allegations have been coming up almost on a daily basis — as Chief Minister.
“Several constituents of the UDF are utterly disappointed. Presently, their reluctance to leave the UDF is the uncertainty over whether they could find place in the lDF. We don’t have to topple the Government (through horse-trading). The UDF allies will do it themselves. Some of them are already engaged in that,” Kodiyeri said at Kozhikode.
leaders of certain allies of the Congress — like Finance Minister KM Mani of the Kerala Congress (M) — have so far not made any comment on the court verdict that discharged Pinarayi from the SNC lavalin case is viewed by the left as a primary indication of their willingness to consider leaving the UDF and aligning with the lDF.
“We are not going to lure UDF MlAs. Instead, we will try to change the thinking of the people who create MlAs. When that happens, that change would reflect among the MlAs themselves and there would be split in the UDF. It will lead to political change in the State and this will happen by the Parliament election,” Kodiyeri said.
Forecasting that the Chandy Government would not complete its five-year term, Kodiyeri said, “Even the Governments of K Karunakaran and AK Antony have not been able to complete their terms in Kerala. If that is so, how can we expect the Chandy Government to complete its termIJ” he asked. The thinking in the CPI (M) is that the UDF regime of Chandy would have to fall on its own after the lok Sabha polls but the left should consider formation of a Government by taking some of the Congress allies only if it is inevitable. Preference should be for coming to power through a mid-term Assembly election, according to left strategists.
This strategy would also give ample opportunity for the CPI (M) to project Pinarayi Vijayan as the left’s chief ministerial candidate and for keeping Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan out of the race.