A final decision in this regard will be taken at a party camp being held at Charalkunnu on August 6 and 7.

The crisis reached the flash point with KC(M) chairman K M Mani rebuffing all attempts by UDF leaders to talk him out of any move to exit the UDF. The latest to join the mollify-Mani brigade were Indian Union Muslim League General Secretary PK Kunhalikutty and Leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala. Reports have it that Mani has not given them any positive response to their pleadings. Former chief minister Oommen Chandy had also made an unsuccessful attempt to pacify Mani.

Relations between the Congress and the KC(M) have plummeted to an all-time low ever since the KC(M) leaders, including Mani, accused Congress leaders, particularly Ramesh Chennithala and former Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash of launching a conspiracy against Mani by slapping the bar bribery case against him.

The KC(M) has a grouse against the Congress for having caused an electoral setback by playing up the bar bribery case involving Mani. The last straw came when both Oommen Chandy and Ramesh attended the betrothal ceremony of Congress leader Adoor Prakash’s son with bar owner Biju Ramesh’s daughter. Biju, it may be mentioned, was the first to accuse Mani of accepting huge bribes from bar owners to get favourable decisions from the government on reopening of closed bars in the state.

An angry Mani had even boycotted a crucial UDF meeting in protest against the Congress’s moves to discredit him. Nor did he send any other representative to the meeting. UDF had even postponed a meeting scheduled to be held on August 2 to mollify Mani. But the KC(M) has remained unmollified so far.

Mani’s decision has come amid speculation that the KC(M) is being wooed by the BJP. Reports have it that BJP state general secretary A N Radhakrishnan has had several meetings with Mani in this connection.

As part of the ‘deal’ being worked out, Mani’s son, Jose K Mani MP, may be made a minister of state in the Modi cabinet at the Centre. The camp at Charalkunnu will take a formal decision on sitting as a separate block in the assembly and other allied issues.

In a significant development, Mani is said to have succeeded in getting the support of his colleague P: J Joseph in his efforts to settle scores with the Congress. The decision to sit as a separate block in the Assembly has the backing of Joseph, it is learnt. This is a big relief for Mani as Joseph had, in the past, refused to support Mani’s move to quit the UDF.

The picture will be clearer after the KC(M) camp on August 6 and 7. If Mani decides to quit the UDF, there could be a realignment of opposition parties in the State. It is not for nothing that BJP state president Kummanam Rajashekharan is on record that BJP is well on the way to heading a firmed up third front in the state in the not so distant future. (IPA Service)