The crisis in Kerala’s Congress-led ruling UDF over the clash in its third biggest constituent, Kerala Congress (M), deepened on Friday with tainted Finance Minister and party chairman KM Mani remaining firm in his demand for the removal of party vice-chairman PC George as Government Chief Whip and as party’s representative in the UDF’s liaison committee and George refusing to bow down to Mani’s desire.
Mani, accused of taking Rs 1 crore as bribe from the State’s bar owners and of leaking out Budget proposals to interested sectors for money, and his loyalists in the party had taken the decision against George mainly because of his oft-repeated statement that the Finance Minister should have resigned the moment the bribery allegation came up against him.
A parliamentary party meeting of the KC(M) on Thursday to which George, one of its nine MlAs, was not invited, had decided to punish George. Mani had given a letter to the Chief Minister, also the chairman of the UDF, on Thursday itself informing him of the decision of the party to sack George, a man who used to be known as Chandy’s personal trouble-shooter.
On Friday, Chandy held discussions with George and Mani, warning them about the need for unity in the front at a time when it was preparing for Rajya Sabha elections and an Assembly by-poll necessitated by the death of Speaker G Karthikeyan. “I have talked with Mani and George. A decision will be taken after discussions with other UDF leaders,” Chandy told newsmen.
After the discussions, George took a position that he would not resign as Chief Whip but would continue as part of the UDF. He told the Chief Minister and other UDF leaders that he did not want to stay on in the KC(M) but could revive his old party, the Kerala Congress (S) which he had merged with Mani’s party, and continue as its MlA.
Despite his intense anger towards George, Mani did not want to expel him from the party or the post of vice-chairman. He also did not want George to resign as MlA prompting observers to conclude that his strategy was to use the anti-defection law against him if he tried to switch camps or stay as UDF MlA even after leaving the party.
“What Mani is telling me is that I can continue in the party as a puppet. That is not going to happen. let him not threaten me. If he is intelligent, he should opt for an amicable settlement,” George, known as a storehouse of dangerous and secret information about the political games the UDF and Chandy had played in the past four years in order to remain in power, said.
The development has deepened the crisis for Chandy and the Government, surviving on a thin majority of three MlAs in the 140-member Assembly. Observers pointed out that Mani’s trump card was the eight MlAs - excluding George - his party had. “But the question is whether he can beat a shrewd politician like Chandy with his threats,” said a Congress leader.
That the issue might not be resolved soon became clear by Friday evening as Mani, who had earlier in the day served an ultimatum on Chandy that a decision should be taken before midnight, told newsmen, “The Chief Minister is going abroad tomorrow. A decision will come after he returns.”
“George is confident that Chandy cannot take a decision that might antagonize him. Chandy knows that George is a very dangerous politician who could do much damage to him as well as the scam-beleaguered UDF Government which is surviving on a slender majority of three MlAs,” said a senior journalist of a newspaper loyal to Mani.
“Mani has actually set a trap for himself,” the journalist said, referring to the several interviews George gave in the past couple of days in which he ‘disclosed’ the unethical politics Mani had played for his own advantage throughout his career. “The tragedy for Mani is that people tend to believe what George says just as they believe that he has taken bribe,” he added.