The decline started with the exploding of the solar scam bomb. Within a wink as it were, Chandy’s world has turned topsy-turvy. Shocking revelations about the close links members of his staff maintained with the prime accused in the scam exposed the chinks in his armour as never before. The CM’s office was shown to have been the nerve centre of a gang of fraudsters fully supported by the CM’s close aides. The man, who trumpeted about the transparency of his administration, now stands stripped of his credibility.

The Opposition was quick to demand Chandy’s scalp over the scam running into hundreds of crores. Chandy must step down and face a judicial inquiry, thundered the Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF). The aides could not have done what they did without the knowledge of the Chief Minister. That is the gravamen of the LDF’s charge.

The CM slipped into the damage control mode by ordering a police probe into the matter and had a personal assistant of his arrested. But two other members of his staff, who have been removed, have not been taken into custody so far, causing eyebrows to be raised all round. Not only the opposition, even some Congress leaders have questioned such selective arrests.

Despite his elaborate explanations, the chief minister has not been able to satisfactorily answer many questions.

Just one incident will illustrate the point. For instance, Chandy continues to maintain a deafening silence on his closed-door meeting with the prime accused, Biju Radhakrishnan. His defence: it was a family matter, which could not be disclosed! Also, the CM said Biju was not a wanted criminal when he met him! A few days later, he accused the former LDF Government of failing to register any case against him and the number two accused Saritha Nair, his live-in partner, while it was in power.

Be that as it may, more damaging disclosures are being made with each passing day. The CM’s aide in Delhi, Thomas Kuruvila, has admitted having talked to Saritha to discuss business matters. The CM has remained tight-lipped about Kuruvila and his sudden rise to a pre-eminent position. A Bangalore-based Keralite businessman, who accused Chandy’s relatives of having cheated him of lakhs, was promptly arrested. Obviously, a retaliatory act, with the clear objective to intimidate him. But the unfazed businessman has threatened to come out with more evidence against the CM’s kin.

Kerala BJP general secretary, K Surendran, has also made serious allegations against Oommen Chandy’s son. The latter has sued the BJP leader, but the intimidatory tactics have not deterred Surendran from his resolve to come out with more proof against the CM’s son and other relatives.

Such disclosures have made it increasingly difficult for the CM to defend the indefensible. True, the Congress leaders have expressed their full support to him. But it is clear that the party-is-united chorus is born purely out of political compulsions. The façade of unity could collapse at the first available opportunity.

The chief minister has also won a temporary reprieve from the party high command. But Sonia Gandhi, clearly unhappy about the turn of events and the subsequent damage to the party’s image, has asked him to change his style of functioning and end the disconnect between the party and the government.

Obviously, the high command thinks that the damage accruing from persisting with Chandy as the CM would be less than that arising from his resignation. But the reality is that the more he clings, limpet-like, to power in the face of devastating disclosures by the day, the greater would be the damage to the party’s image and poll prospects.

Another reason why he has escaped ouster for the time being is the support of allies, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Kerala Congress(M). But even these parties are worried about the adverse impact of the scam on the UDF’s prospects in the Lok Sabha elections. Hence the IUML’s ‘ultimatum’ to Chandy to take expeditious remedial action, and the KC(M)’s hardening stance against the Congress. Also the IUML knows jolly well that no other CM other than Chandy would be as mindful of their interests and as pliable.

Evidently, Chandy is caught in a catch-22 situation. If he stays in power, he would be damned. But damned he would be even if he quits. Also, resignation at this juncture would mean exposing himself to the possibility of investigations – a prospect neither the CM nor the Congress-led UDF relishes. That explains the decision to brazen it out against all odds.

‘It is necessary for me to stay in power to uncover the truth’, declares Oommen Chandy. It is the biggest joke of the recent times, retorts Leader of the Opposition V S Achuthanandan! (IPA Service)