Kerala government in a bind over vacant berth

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government is celebrating its second anniversary this week, but the front has got itself all tied up in knots over a ministerial post.

The vacancy in the Oommen Chandy government arose when former forest minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar had to step down after allegations of domestic violence by his wife Yamini Thankachy. Since then, several political developments have taken place within the ruling front, including what appears to be a botched attempt by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala to join the cabinet.

The muddle hasn’t cleared yet. But it now seems that Chennithala has been the biggest loser over the past week, with his apparent ambition to become the deputy chief minister or at least minister with the home portfolio going unrealised. There is even talk that Kumar could wrest back the cabinet berth that he had vacated.

Chennithala recently completed a Kerala Yatra. There was speculation that there would be a major shake-up of the cabinet by the time his yatra ended.

Airing his displeasure at the turn of events, Nair Service Society (NSS) general secretary Sukumaran Nair said that keeping Chennithala out of the cabinet was a victory for the chief minister. Nair added that Chennithala had himself to blame for the way things have turned out.

Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan echoed the same sentiment, saying that Chennithala had created the present situation by disregarding the NSS.

In a related development, government chief whip P.C. George said it was “unethical” to include Kumar in the Oommen Chandy cabinet again. George said the situation that warranted his stepping down from the cabinet continued to exist, and that Kumar’s father R. Balakrishna Pillai was already bestowed with the chairmanship of a government commission. “A party with a single MLA, like the Kerala Congress (B), cannot have two cabinet-rank posts,” George said.