The Government has been shaken to its very core by the release by working president of the Bar Owners Association (BOA), Biju Ramesh, of phone conversations in which Kerala Congress(B) president, R. Balakrishna Pillai and Government chief whip, P. C. George, divulge incriminating details, further implicating Mani in the bar bribery case.

In his conversation with Biju, Pillai claims to have clearly told Chief Minister Oommen Chandy about the bribe paid to Mani to influence the decision on reopening closed bars in the state. Pillai is heard asking Biju to stick to his guns and demand a CBI inquiry into the scam. He also promises full support to Biju in his campaign against Mani, who is his bitter rival in Kerala Congress politics.

Another BOA office-bearer has come out with a startling disclosure that he had himself handed over Rs 5 crore to Mani. The BOA man made this claim at a BOA meeting, which was recorded by Biju.

As for George, the tape contains remarks which question his loyalty to his boss, Mani. George is heard telling Biju that his public statements supporting Mani need not be taken seriously!

Not surprisingly, the demand for the expulsion of Pillai and his party, the KC(B), from the UDF has gathered pace with the latest tumbling of more skeletons from the bar scam cupboard.

Likewise, P C George is also under attack for his ‘role’ in the conspiracy against Mani. It must be mentioned that a section of the KC(M) leaders have suspected, right from the beginning, that George has played a key role in the anti-Mani conspiracy.

The demand for Pillai’s expulsion has put the Chief Minister in a tight spot. He will be damned if he acts against Pillai, and damned if he does not. The CM cannot afford to ‘touch’ Pillai as the latter is in possession of explosive information against the CM and the Congress in the solar scam. In case he is expelled, Pillai has openly threatened to make more damaging disclosures against the Congress and its ministers. And the CM knows that will be last nail on the UDF coffin.

But Chief Minister Oommen Chandy cannot remain indifferent to the demand for Pillai’s ouster either. The reason: the KC(M) which has demanded the scalp of Pillai has nine MLAs. And if the KC(M) withdraws support to the government, it will collapse like a pack of cards. How the wily CM, who is a pastmaster in weathering political storms, overcomes the present crisis, will be watched with keen interest. On that remains the fate of his government.

In this context, the meeting of the UDF Liaison Committee called for January 28 will be crucial. Oommen Chandy will have to delve deeply into his crisis-management experience and skill to avert a collapse of the UDF Government.

A feature of the latest crisis is that it has been precipitated by the words and deeds of the UDF Constituents themselves and not by any efforts of the Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF). Interestingly, KC(B)’s sole MLA and Pillai’s son, K B Ganesh Kumar has already embarrassed the government by levelling corruption charges against the staff members of PWD Minister, Ibrahim Kunju, who belongs to the Indian Union Muslim League(IUML), the most powerful ally of the Congress in the UDF.

It must be said in fairness that the ‘gang-up’ between Pillai and Biju Ramesh lends more credence to the conspiracy angle assidulously advanced by the KC(M) against its party chief. Also, the fact that Biju has not so far disclosed the names of Congress ministers involved in the scam and has, instead, concentrated only on Mani further vindicates the allegations made by KC(M) leaders that Mani is a victim of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by a section of Congress leaders close to the CM. They say the CM is angry with Mani for nursing a long-standing ambition to become the Chief Minister!

Whatever the truth, the latest disclosures by Biju Ramesh have deepened the crisis plaguing the UDF Government. The UDF leaders are presenting a brave face claiming that there still is no clinching proof against Mani. But if Biju releases the CD in which he claims Mani directly asked for money running into crores, then Mani’s position will become totally untenable and he will have no option but to resign. Can the crafty CM avert such a dangerous denouement and save his badly battered and thoroughly discredited Government? The answer to his question will be available, hopefully, within the next few days.

Meanwhile, the BOA working president has said that he will hand over CDs containing evidence of Jose K Mani, KC(M) MP, and water resources minister P J Joseph exerting pressure on bar owners to retract the bribery charges against Mani to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau(VACB) very soon. (IPA Service)