The mission undertaken by senior Congress leader and Union Defence Minister A K Antony, obviously at the behest of the party high command, had two objectives: to mend fences with the Nair Service Society(NSS), which is angry with the Oommen Chandy-led United Democratic Front(UDF) Government for its ‘persistent neglect’ of the interests of the majority communities; and put the Congress house, riven by factionalism, in order.

The idea was to assuage the anger of the NSS by inducting into the state Cabinet Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala who belongs to the majority Nair community. But the plan has hit a roadblock with strong opposition not only from within the Congress but also from the allies.

A disgusted Antony has thrown up his hands in despair. The Defence Minister is reported to have told the warring Congress leaders that they should first evolve a consensus package and approach the high command.

Ironically, Antony undertook the ‘mission impossible’ following an appeal by the state Congress leaders at a meeting convened by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi recently, to intervene to sort out the mess in the state unit. But the same leaders are now refusing to listen to his advice and suggestions for improving matters. No wonder, Antony has virtually washed his hands of the affair, tossing the ball back into the high command’s court.

Meanwhile, the supporters of Chennithala, who heads the Vishala I group in the party, say he won’t join the cabinet in view of the concerted efforts by leaders belonging to the rival A group led by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to humiliate him. Chennithala himself is on record that he is not hankering after any ministerial berth.

The deadlock is due to the stubborn refusal of the A group to part with the Home portfolio presently held by its nominee Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and hand it over to Chennithala. The other option was to make him the Deputy Chief minister with some other portfolio like Revenue.

But here, the allies played the spoilsport. Both the Indian Union Muslim League and the Kerala Congress(M) objected to the creation of the Dy CM’s post without proper discussion in the UDF. KC(M) chief and Finance Minister K M Mani even staked his claim to the Dy CM’s post, saying that he richly deserves it in view of his seniority! The IUML holds a similar view. The Congress cannot hold the posts of both the Chief Minister and the Dy. Chief Minister, they contend.

The factional strife in the Congress vindicates the NSS stance that the concerns of the majority communities will not be addressed by a reorganization of the state cabinet alone. NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair had expressed this view after a meeting with KC(M) leader K M Mani who went to the NSS headquarters on a mission to placate the estranged NSS chief.

Now, the Congress faces the twin danger of NSS anger and the distinct possibility of a surge in factionalism in the party in the wake of the KPCC president’s ‘humiliation’ in the name of his induction into the state cabinet. There are reports that Ramesh’s supporters have already held a meeting to chalk out their ‘future course of action’. The trail of bitterness left by the ugly spat does not augur well for the Congress, with the Lok Sabha elections only an year away.(IPA Service)