Worried about the adverse impact the controversy could have on the party’s prospects in the Lok Sabha elections, due next year, the high command had sent the AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala, Mukul Wasnik, on a damage-control mission. Wasnik came and saw; but he did not like what he saw one bit, and gave all concerned, including the Chief Minister, a piece of his mind. Pull up your socks, or else. That was the clear warning he administered, according to Congress sources. Wasnik has gone back, far from convinced by the stout defence put up by the Oommen Chandy loyalists, it is learnt. The upshot of all this: Chandy will, hereafter, be under the scanner of the high command.

Not surprisingly, the rival group headed by KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala did not lose the opportunity presented by the Wasnik visit, to let off steam against Oommen Chandy. The party finds itself in a sorry pass because of the CM’s lack of control on the members of the CM’s office, where anarchy prevails, says their complaint to Wasnik. Ramesh loyalists also blamed Oommen Chandy for the humiliation heaped on the KPCC chief on the issue of his inclusion in the state cabinet. The CM’s mishandling of the situation has widened the party-government rift and caused the resultant rise in group rivalry.

A host of developments over the last few days have further weakened the embattled Chief Minister’s position. First, three of his staff members have had to go following the report that they had maintained links with the accused in the solar panel controversy, Saritha Nair. Another staff member has been sacked following a complaint of sexual harassment against him. As if all this was not enough, a Bangalore-based Malayali businessman has accused the CM’s relatives and friends of cheating him of lakhs. Ironically, the man has been arrested within days of his leveling the allegation.

Another disturbing development for Chandy has been the decision of K. Muralidharan, MP, and his loyalists to join the Vishala I group led by Chennithala. With even the high command recognizing groupism, there is no point in going it alone, says Murali, justifying the move to close ranks with Chennithala, his one-time rival. Whatever the reasoning, the Chennithala-Murali patch-up bodes ill for Chandy as it denotes the determination of all supporters of late K. Karunakaran to come together on a single platform. The ‘grand alliance’ would, inevitably weaken Chandy’s clout and bargaining power, especially at the time of candidate selection for the Lok Sabha elections.

Significantly, Murali’s move has come following the ‘intervention’ of the Nair Service Society (NSS), a bitter critic of Chandy these days, it is learnt. The NSS-brokered truce between Murali and Chennithala is aimed at countering the vice-like grip of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Kerala Congress (Mani) on the UDF Government. The resultant polarization of the Hindu voters could also presage an electoral disaster for the UDF, which had enjoyed the support of the NSS and Nairs who constitute 16 per cent of the electorate in the last assembly elections.

The only silver lining for Chandy has been the Kerala High Court’s order dismissing leader of the opposition V S Achuthanandan’s demanding a fresh hearing on the role of the Chief Minister in the palmolein import scam of 1992. An adverse verdict in the case could have proved the last straw on the camel’s back. (IPA)