That is the fate which has befallen Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his loyalists who stubbornly resisted KPCC President V. M. Sudheeran’s consistent demand that 418 closed bars in the state should not be reopened. The Chief Minister, however, made it clear that the 418 bars cannot be kept closed for ever, hinting at the possibility of some of the bars being reopened. Chandy loyalist and KPCC vice-president, M. M. Hassan even went to the extent of criticizing the KPCC chief for making it difficult for the CM to function.

But when it became clear that Sudheeran won’t bow to the pressure, the Chief Minister, who felt the ground slipping fast from under his feet, executed a swift political somersault, which has few parallels in the history of Kerala politics. At the UDF high-power committee meeting held at the CM’s residence, Chandy announced the new excise policy of his government. Kerala would go for total prohibition, thundered the CM, to the surprise of his colleagues and the KPCC president himself! As a first step the 418 bars would remain closed; what is more, the 312 bars which have remained open, will also be closed immediately. Also, from April 1, 2015, only five-star hotels will be given bar licences. Last but not the least, the Government would reduce the number of the State-run Kerala State Beverage Corporation (BEVCO) outlets by 10 per cent every year, with the objective of achieving total prohibition in 10 years! Five per cent of BEVCO’s income would go, every year, towards rehabilitating the workers who would lose their jobs.

It is not at all difficult to understand the reason which prompted the CM to spring the total prohibition surprise. The KPCC chief’s refusal to change his opposition to the reopening of the closed bars had resulted in an upsurge in his popularity and consequent loss of support to the CM and the advocates of a ‘practical’ approach – a euphemism for the pro-bar owner stance - to the issue. This was the last thing the CM and his close aides wanted. Something had to be done to steal the thunder from Sudheeran. Reports have it that the CM had a meeting with his close aides, kept the KPCC chief in the dark, and decided on opting for total prohibition! What proved the last straw for Chandy was the solid support the Congress’s allies, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Kerala Congress (Mani) extended to the stand taken by Sudheeran.

But, will the CM’s so-called masterstroke have the desired impact? Unlikely. If the CM’s camp thinks that, with this step, he has turned the tables on the KPCC president, they are mistaken. The people of the State are too intelligent and politically enlightened to be taken in by such political charades and expedient politics. If anything, it will only expose them to the charge of being expedient politicians who change their stance just to score political brownie points and to outsmart their political adversaries.

The public perception – and in politics what matters the most is perception - is that it was only because Sudheeran stuck to his principled stand and refused to succumb to the intense pressure he was subjected to that the Chief Minister was compelled to execute the U-turn he did. Not to do so would have vindicated the allegation that the Chief Minister’s stand was favouring only the bar owners and not the people at large.

The better part of the joke is this: Oommen Chandy would have the public to believe that it was a collective decision to opt for total prohibition. Nothing is farther from the truth. Chandy went for it only to cut the KPCC chief to size. If he was really sincere in implementing the decision, the CM would have consulted the KPCC president too before taking the decision on total prohibition. Nothing of the sort has happened. In the whole episode, the CM has diminished himself while the KPCC chief has enhanced his reputation for principled politics and political honesty.

A concerned Congress High Command has asked the warring factions in the state unit to sober down and end the war of words which has erupted in the wake of the CM’s U-turn in the matter. Congress president Sonia Gandhi is reported to be unhappy about the factional feud in the Congress. But Sudheeran has denied it. Not only that. The KPCC chief has signalled his intent to speak against wrong- doing in the party as well as Government in future as well.

Will the Government’s decision stand legal scrutiny? Opinion is divided on the issue. Several legal luminaries say any hasty decision to cancel the licences of the 312 bars which remain open will embroil the Government in legal tangles. The Government’s argument is that it can abruptly cancel the licences because the contract with the bar owners has a clause which allows it to cancel their licences at short notice. Some legal experts, however, disagree. They are of the view that, even if there is such a clause, the Government cannot cancel the licences abruptly and without giving proper notice to the bar owners. There is criticism in some quarters that the step is being taken to help the bar owners as the court may take objection to the Government’s hasty moves.

The Opposition parties have by and large welcomed the Government’s decision but voiced doubts about its sincerity. Leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan hit the nail on the head when he stated that the decision was nothing but a political gimmick with a limited objective: to end the factional feud which has erupted within the Congress in the State.

Whatever the final outcome, it is a win-win situation for the KPCC president. By being firm in his stand on the closure of the bars, he has proved that, in politics, idealism can also become practical given the requisite political will. The Chief Minister’s camp thinks that it has had the last laugh in the tug of war with the KPCC chief. But, for all they know, the boot could be on the other leg. One thing is for sure: an overwhelming majority of the people, especially women, are solidly behind the KPCC president. He has given them a new hope of an alcohol-free Kerala emerging at last. (IPA Service)