Kerala’s tainted Finance Minister KM Mani on Palm Sunday sounded like a preacher when he said, “Everyone who believes in Jesus should accept life’s crosses pleasantly and peacefully.” But the dramatis personae in the ongoing drama within the Congress-led ruling UDF, most of whom are devout Christians, have entered the Holy Week carrying heavy crosses in their disturbed souls thanks to the deep political crisis the coalition is in.
Though they were reliving the memory of the Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the peace that should accompany it was not there on the faces of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Kerala Congress (M) leaders Mani and Irrigation Minister PJ Joseph and KC(M) rebel PC George, the Government Chief Whip, as they participated in the Palm Sunday processions holding tender coconut leaves, the God’s Own Country’s equivalent of Jerusalem’s olive branches.
They were all disturbed by the thought of how they were going to deal with the crisis that had come up in the UDF due to Mani’s demand to the Chief Minister for the immediate removal of PC George as Chief Whip. Chandy, who will now be on a three-day Gulf trip, has sought time for this but the realization that the issue is extremely serious is sure to disturb his peace of mind in the Holy Week. It was obvious that the Cross KC(M) chairman Mani was referring to — when he spoke of crosses of life at the St Thomas Cathedral in his hometown Pala — was George, who despite being his party’s only vice-chairman, had been privately and publicly demanding his resignation as Finance Minister over the charge that he had taken Rs1 crore as bribe from bar owners.
Still, George sounded generous to Mani on the eve of the Palm Sunday: He said, “let all the blots in Mani’s soul be washed away with the observance of the Holy Week. Nobody should intend to crucify others in the week of Death by the Cross. I have decided to stay away from confrontations in the Holy Week.” But KC(M) functionaries and observers who know Mani and George closely vouch that the two will be thinking of nothing but the confrontation. “This has sunk so deep in their minds that they will know no peace till it is resolved in ways they want. Mani can’t pardon George and George can’t let Mani have the last laugh,” said a former loyalist of Mani from the KC(M).