legislators of Kerala’s CPI(M)-led lDF had in March, 2015 gone even to the extent of vandalising the State Assembly to register their protest against former Finance Minister and Kerala Congress (M) chairman KM Mani, who was accused of taking bribe from bar owners.
Mani himself and his supporters still believe that a large section in the Congress, which leads the Opposition UDF of which KC(M) is a former partner, had backstabbed him in the bar bribery scandal. Mani’s party had quit the UDF in August, 2016.
However, the by-election to be held in the Chengannur Assembly constituency on May 28 is forcing both the CPI(M), which had carried out a furious campaign against Mani over the bribery scandal, and the Congress, a section of which had once seen him as a burden, to seek his personal and organizational support by forgetting and forgiving everything.
The CPI(M)’s newfound love for Mani and his party in the context of the bypoll is so intense that it has even locked horns with its biggest ally in the lDF, CPI, which is still not prepared to exonerate the KC(M) chief in the bar bribery scandal which had forced him to resign as Finance minister in the former UDF government.
In fact, the dispute over striking a deal with Mani had led to an open war of words between the CPI(M) and the CPI. Determined to block Mani’s entry into the lDF, State CPI secretary Kanam Rajendran said the lDF was in no need of KC(M) support but within a day his CPI(M) counterpart shot back saying such decisions were not to be taken by a party but by the lDF.
In his urgency to emphasize the need of Mani’s support in the crucial by-poll, State CPI(M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that the left would welcome the support of all parties except the RSS to which Kanam responded by saying, rather sarcastically, “The lDF need not say no even to RSS persons if they are voting for us.”
The CPI(M) has been trying to forge an alliance with the KC(M) since the CPI began to criticize it for the lapses in the State administration almost immediately after the lDF came to power. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, controlled by CPI(M) Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has concluded that there is no evidence against Mani in the bar bribery case.
Both the CPI(M) and the Congress think that the support of KC(M), a party backed by the Church, is of crucial importance in Chengannur where Christians constitute 20 percent of the electorate. While observers feel that the KC(M) has 3,000 to 5,000 votes in Chengannur and this number is of great significance in the triangular contest.
The Congress, which Mani and his supporters think had not only failed to stand by him in the hour of crisis but a section of which had backstabbed him, is also making efforts on a war footing to bring him and his party back to the UDF and thus ensure their support for the Congress candidate, D Vijayakumar, in the tough triangular bypoll battle in Chengannur.
Despite the rumours that it was the position he had taken as the then Home minister that had complicated matters for Mani in the bar bribery scandal, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress has expressed his readiness to hold talks with the Kerala Congress (M) chairman. “Mani is not corrupt. The left was hunting him unnecessarily,” Chennithala said.
Stating that he would make personal efforts to convince Mani, Chennithala said, “I am sure his misunderstanding about the then Home Department (with regard to the rumours on how it had used the bar bribery case against Mani) has been removed. We still hope that the votes of Mani’s party will be polled for the UDF nominee,” Chennithala said.
However, Mani is in no hurry to decide on the path he should take as the bypoll is still 23 days away. He has to settle the matter first within his party. As per sources within the KC(M), there are two opinions on this in that party. A clear decision is expected to emerge from the KC(M)’s steering committee meeting to be held on May 11.
“What can we do if all sides want our supportIJ What it means is that they have recognized our strength in Chengannur,” said a Mani aide from Mannar in the constituency. “We don’t consider any party or front as untouchable. Anything can happen. After all, politics is an art of possibilities. There are no permanent friends or permanent foes,” he added.