Consequently, the crucial meeting of the UDF Coordination Committee, scheduled to be held on April 2 is likely to witness fireworks.

KC(B) chief R Balakrishna Pillai is angry because his son and Forest Minister K B Ganesh Kumar has refused to follow the party’s directives and concede its demands.

The proximate cause for the escalation of tension between the father and son is said to be Ganesh’s refusal to appoint a person named by Pillai as a Forest Officer. Sources close to the Minister says Pillai’s nominee for the post has a tainted reputation, and hence Ganesh’s refusal to appoint him.

Pillai counters this and accuses the Minister of acting according to his whims and fancies. The KC(B) chief says the Minister has violated the truce brokered by Labour Minister Shibu John and others. As per the agreement, Ganesh had agreed to work in close coordination with the party and its chairman. That agreement has become a thing of the past, charges Pillai and his supporters.

The renewed spat between the father and son means trouble for Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the UDF Government. What has added to the CM’s difficulties is Pillai’s stand that he was not interested in more talks with the UDF leaders to resolve the crisis.

With Pillai in an agitated mood, and his party bent on taking up the issue of removal of Forest Minister Ganesh Kumar, the April 2 meeting of the UDF Coordination Committee is expected to be stormy.

Another issue which is likely to generate considerable heat at the April 2 meeting is the controversy over the continuance of P C George belonging to the Kerala Congress (Mani) as the Government’s Chief Whip.

George had kicked up a major controversy with his style of functioning and use of foul language against political rivals and even UDF leaders. A section of Congress leaders, the JSS and even some KC(M) leaders close to Minister P J Joseph have sought the removal of George from the post. The JSS is angry with George for using abusive language against its leader K R Gowri, the seniormost political leader in the state.

However, KC(M) president and Finance Minister K M Mani has ruled out removal of George from the post. Mani has of course frowned upon George’s abuse of political foes and friends. But he is hesitant to take stronger action against George in view of the Lok Sabha elections only a year away. In fact, Mani’s stand has angered the loyalists of P J Joseph who are firm on the exit of George from the Chief Whip’s post.

Needless to say, the hardened stance of KC(B) and the JSS has put Chief Minister Chandy and KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala on the horns of a severe dilemma. If the CM concedes the KC(B)’s demand that Ganesh be removed as the forest minister, the latter will resign his MLA’s post too. With the political situation undergoing a transformation, there is no guarantee that Pathanapuram constituency, which elected Ganesh in the last assembly elections, will stand by the UDF, surviving on a slender majority of three. (IPA)