Group war has escalated in Kerala’s factionalism-ridden Congress party over speculation about a Cabinet reshuffle which Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is reportedly determined to carry out. Rumours of the Cabinet reshuffle and the disputes over it erupted after Assembly Speaker G Karthikeyan’s announcement the other day of his wish to resign “to return to active politics”.
Saturday saw different senior leaders airing divergent opinions on the matter with those belonging to the ‘I’ group led by Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala strongly opposing a Cabinet reshuffle at this point while the ‘A’ group of the Chief Minister arguing vehemently in favour of it foreseeing an opportunity to show the Chennithala faction its place.
The Chief Minister will visit Delhi on July 29 in a bid to get the reshuffle cleared directly from the party high command - which due to its inability to devote time and energy to issues related to regional units has so far taken a position that the matter should be decided at the State level - so that the opposition in the State party unit would get irrelevant.
“Chandy knows that talks within the Kerala unit will not lead to a consensus over an issue like Cabinet reshuffle. He also knows that the high command is powerless to interfere in State affairs in the current situation. However, he wants to get the reshuffle cleared from Delhi so that discussions in Kerala can be avoided," said a senior 'I' group leader.
The 'I' group itself is in confusion and divided over the issue of the Cabinet reshuffle. leaders came out in support of and against the call for giving a vital position in the Cabinet to Karthikeyan. While senior leader K Sudhakaran wanted a decent accommodation for Karthikeyan in the Cabinet, UDF convener PP Thankachan said there was no need of this.
A note of warning to the Congress came from Government Chief Whip PC George, vice-chairman of Kerala Congress (M), a partner of the ruling UDF. "The Congress is already in a bad shape nationally. Don't weaken it in Kerala also with these talks about the Cabinet reshuffle and Karthikeyan's wish to resign as Speaker," he said.
Though the Chief Minister himself is determined to carry out the Cabinet reshuffle, which he had announced even before the lok Sabha election, observers say that it will be a difficult task as he will have to satisfy the different factions within the Congress and the ruling alliance and keep regional and community balances intact in the structure of the Cabinet.
Calls have come up from within the party for a reshuffle of all the portfolios including those held by the allies, which is sure to attract a lot of opposition. State Congress spokesman Ajay Tharayil on Saturday said that Chandy should throw out the inefficient Ministers and that the Congress should take over the Education portfolio from the Muslim league.
Chennithala's 'I' group is vehemently opposing the move for a reshuffle as it knows that it will be the biggest loser because all the major portfolios like Home, Revenue and Health are currently held by its Ministers. It is said that Chandy is sure to reallocate the Revenue and Health portfolios to leaders belonging to his 'A' group in the reshuffle.
Almost all sections in the party except the 'A' group are against a reshuffle at this juncture. Even State Congress president VM Sudheeran, who is currently in the USA, is against the idea. However, leaders secretly admit that Chandy seems to be determined in his decision and therefore they cannot oppose the reshuffle as it is the prerogative of the CM.