It was the NCP which embarrassed the LDF first. Forest Minister A K Saseendran, who belongs to the NCP, put the LDF Government in a spot by making a phone call reportedly to shield a top party aide from prosecution in a sexual harassment case.

An alert Opposition promptly pounced on the chance to grill the Government, which is already reeling under the impact of Muttil tree felling controversy and allegations of doctoring covid death figures. Leader of the Opposition, V D Satheesan accused the Minister of trying to use his office to coerce an NCP worker to talk his daughter into withdrawing a sexual harassment complaint she had filed against a State-level party leader. The victim stated that Minister Saseendran had intimidated his father through the phone call. She also said the Minister was fully aware of the complaint and that his contention he intervened without knowing that it was a sexual harassment case was wrong. The Minister, Satheesan alleged, had misused his office to ensure protection to a ‘sex offender’. He also alleged that the Government’s campaign against dowry and gender injustice was nothing but a sham. Propriety demands that the Minister resign.

Saseendran, however, denied the allegations. He said he had intervened only to sort out the differences between two NCP workers. He said he was not aware of the nature of the woman’s complaint. And when he came to know the real nature of the complaint, he backed out. Saseendran also met the Chief Minister to explain the episode. The CM reportedly said that he should have exercised greater vigil.

The victim’s father accused the NCP leadership of speaking with a forked tongue. There were no differences within the NCP in Kollam district. Although his daughter was a BJP worker, her complaint was genuine. He urged the Chief Minister to oust Saseendran from the Cabinet. The Police have named an NCP worker and his loyalist in an FIR.

On his part, the NCP leadership criticized the Minister for failing to be vigilant, and asked him to be cautious in his phone conversations and while intervening in issues in the future. The party also suspended four leaders in connection with the incident. Party workers have been prevented from approaching the minister directly. The minister should be approached only through the party hereafter. NCP state president P C Chacko said a code of conduct has been issued for the Minister and party members to follow.

Needless to say, the incident has rattled the LDF Government. The front has rejected demands for the Minister’s resignation. Resignation at this stage will only give the opposition a handle to harass the Government. But there is a feeling that unfortunate episode has dented the image of the Government at a time when it needs to exercise extreme vigil in dealings with the people.

But then, this is not the first time that Saseendran has put the LDF to acute embarrassment. As transport minister in the previous LDF Government, he had courted controversy by getting embroiled in a salacious telephonic conversation with a woman who posed as a reporter of a newly-started TV channel. The channel aired the conversation later resulting in the Minister’s ouster from the Cabinet. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan reinstated him when the police came to the conclusion that the minister was a victim of a sting operation launched by the TV channel to gain viewership.

Hardly had the dust settled on the Saseendran episode, when the Indian National League (INL), a long-standing ally of the LDF, embarrassed the front’s leadership by washing dirty linen in public. The differences within the party took a violent turn when two sections of party workers indulged in a street fight. The party formally split with the warring factions expelling the state president and the general secretary by holding separate meetings.INA state president Abdul Wahab expelled general secretary Kasim Irikkur from the post. Kasim returned the compliments by ousting Wahab. The party’s only Minister in the Pinarayi Cabinet, Ahmed Devarkoil, is aligned with the Kasim faction. The CPI(M) is also said to back the Kasim faction. That means Devarkoil won’t have to resign immediately. Resignation of the minister from a party with a lone MLA would be exploited by the Opposition.

There is no denying, however, that the ugly spat has created a severe headache for the LDF leadership. The CPI(M) leadership had called the leaders of the warring factions and asked them to sort out their differences amicably. But that is not to be. The unfortunate episode, the LDF leaders feel, would adversely affect the image of the LDF being a cohesive and stable alliance. The INL, which had become a formal ally of the LDF after a 24-year wait, came into being following a split in the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) over the demolition of Babri masjid. (IPA Service)