Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, beleaguered by the infamous solar scam in which he is accused of personal involvement and internecine wars in the Congress and the ruling UDF it leads, on Friday launched a massive Government-sponsored public relations exercise, the CM’s Mass Contact Programme, with the alleged goal of shoring up his sliding popularity.
The inauguration of the programme at Thiruvananthapuram itself was a tumultuous affair with the CPI(M)-led Opposition lDF staging an intense protest outside the venue, over the Chief Minister’s alleged links with the solar panel fraud, as hundreds of complainants flowed in to hand over their pleas directly to him.
Chandy took up the exercise in the context of concerns among his own leaders and constituents of the UDF that the ruling side could face a near-rout in the coming lok Sabha election and speculation that he would be held solely responsible for such a situation by his enemies in the party, dissatisfied allies and even by the Congress high command.
A Congress source said that Chandy had to recapture some of his popularity as he was facing the threat of removal as chief Minister once the lok Sabha election was over. “His dilemma is that he would have to bear responsibility for any setback the Congress and the UDF suffer in the polls but any advantages in the polls would not be ascribed to his name,” said the source.
In fact, the exercise that began in Thiruvananthapuram — to be continued in other districts for the next two months — is the second edition of his Mass Contact Programme that started in 2011 in the name of which he received the UN Global Award for Public Service in June amidst allegations of his personal involvement in the solar scam.
According to the Government’s own claims, Chandy had received over 550,000 complaints during the Mass Contact Programme held in various districts in 2011-2012 and 438,600 of them had been settled. The second edition was launched on Friday even when the remaining complaints of 2011-12 were yet to be settled.
At the venues of the Mass Contact Programme, being organized by spending crores of rupees from the State Treasury, Chandy would receive complaints directly from the people and settle their issues on the spot if possible or give orders to officials to deal with them speedily. “This is meant to lessen the gap between the Government and the people,” Chandy said on Friday.
“The programme itself is a gimmick,” said Marxist MlA A Pradeepkumar from Kozhikode. “Chandy is doing the work for which ordinary government officials are paid. Instead of making the officials do their job, Chandy makes people stand in the sun and rain and generously blesses them like an emperor. Are democracies run like thisIJ” he asks.
Even UDF leaders are complaining that huge amounts are being spent just to refurbish Chandy’s image. It is said that while Chandy distributed Rs24 to beneficiaries through his programme in 2011-12 by spending nearly Rs 4 crore, the Finance Ministry under KM Mani of the Kerala Congress (M) had given Rs200 crore to the needy without any such programme.
The CPI(M)’s criticisms could be categorised as prompted by political rivalry but the fact remains that even the first phase of Chandy’s Mass Contact Programme in 2011-2012, which had attracted tens of thousands of people with complaints, had not achieved the intended result though his loyalists in the Congress term it as a huge success.
Chandy first took up 700 complaints shortlisted by the district administration. He distributed financial assistance from the CM’s Relief Fund to 20 persons. Over 14,000 complaints were to come up for his consideration. The second edition of the Mass Contact programme will end on December 9.