The disclosures show that UDF politics has plumbed a new depth, creating a sense of uncertainty over the cohesion of the Congress-led front and the continuance of the coalition government.

The latest political storm has broken out over the sensational disclosures made by solar scam accused, Biju Radhakrishnan, currently serving life imprisonment for murdering his first wife, against the Chief Minister. Biju told the Justice G. Sivarahjan Commission, which is probing the solar scam, that he had paid a bribe of Rs 5.5 crore the Chief Minister in three instalments. In another allegation, Biju said the CM and two of his cabinet colleagues had had sexual relations with Sarita Nair, another accused in the solar scam and that he had video evidence to prove it!

The allegations have sent political Kerala into a tizzy as it is the first time that a Chief Minister of the State is facing a sleaze allegation.

True, Congress leaders, including KPCC president, V. M. Sudheeran and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala have rushed to the defence of the beleaguered Chief Minister. However, it is abundantly clear that the defence is nothing but a classic example of self-deception. If anything, the disclosures have come as a godsend for the CM baiters both within the party and outside.

An immediate upshot of the ‘Biju bomb’ would be an escalation in the tussle within the Congress for leadership of the party and the UDF should it win the crucial Assembly elections due in May 2016.

Already, Ramesh Chennithala, who heads the I group in the party rivalling the A group headed by Oommen Chandy, has complained to the Party high command about the CM’s style of functioning. The latest setback to the CM will only lead to an intensification of the campaign against him and to install Ramesh as the next chief ministerial candidate of the Congress-led UDF.

As expected, the High Command has backed the CM for the time being. There is no other option for the central leadership, which is on the horns of a Hamletian dilemma. It would be damned if Chandy is shown the door now, with assembly elections only five months away. It would be damned again if it does not act in the face of what is being dubbed as a highly embarrassing and damaging disclosures against Chandy. Hence the Congress chorus that it is all nothing but a deep-rooted conspiracy to malign the CM and destabilize the UDF! A wag described the conspiracy charge as the joke of the year!

But UDF leaders admit in private that the political time bomb will exact a heavy toll on both the party and the UDF in the assembly elections.

Understandably, the opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) is cock-a-hoop over the CM’s discomfiture. Jubilant LDF leaders, including leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan. CPI(M) Politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI(M) state secretary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan have twisted the knife in the UDF wound by demanding immediate resignation of the CM andf his Government. The LDF has also decided to step up the campaign to secure the CM’s resignation.

Apart from the CM, the other leaders who have come under a cloud are Labour Minister Shibu Baby John belonging to the RSP, tourism minister A P Anil Kumar(Congress), Congress MLA, Hibi Eden and Congress leader Aryadan Shoukath(son of electricity minister Aryadan Mohammed).

Biju and Saritha were partners of Team Solar, a solar energy solution provider firm. The company allegedly cheated Rs 6 crore out of investors by promising to install solar products and offering partnerships. A few complainants have alleged that the scam was carried out with the active help of the Chief Minister’s office.

The next round of battle will shift to the court of the Sivarajan Commission as Justice Sivarajan has asked Biju Radhakrishnan to produce the CD containing proof of his allegations on December 10. The whole of Kerala is awaiting with bated breath for the next episode to unfold on December 10. If Biju does produce the clinching evidence, December 10 could become the day marking the inevitable exit of the Chandy Government. (IPA Service)