For once, the irrepressible P. C. George, who has been cracking the verbal whiplash at friends and foes alike, is at the receiving end himself. As a UDF leader put it aptly, “the tormentor has turned the tormented’ within the space of 24 hours.

As a result, the political bully boy finds himself at the crossroads. At long last, his boss and KC(M) president, K. M. Mani, has succeeded in having George removed as the Government Chief Whip. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy tried his level best to avert the Mani-George standoff. But ultimately he had to bow to Mani’s wish that George be shown the door. So disgusted was Mani that he refused to concede Chandy’s request that George be allowed to at least, remain within the UDF. Mani is angry with George for openly demanding his resignation in the wake of the eruption of the bar bribery scam.

Smarting under the humiliation of having been stripped of the post, George is now going hammer and tongs at both Mani and his son, Jose K. Mani. George fired the first salvo by alleging that a letter written by Saritha Nair, the prime accused in the solar scam, while in judicial remand, had mentioned the name of Jose among others who had sexually exploited her. George also wrote to the CM a day after he was ousted as the Chief Whip, seeking an inquiry into the wealth acquired by Mani and Jose. “Mani began taking money for favours right from his budget,” alleged George in the letter, adding that the probe should also cover frequent visits by Mani and Jose to Bahamas. Both, he said, had secret accounts in Bahams, and that Jose owns several resorts in Sri Lanka.

The Chief Minister and the UDF have, of course, ruled out any probe into the allegations. The reason is clear: the CM cannot afford to offend Mani as the government is critically dependent on the support of 8 KC(M) MLAs for survival.

Be that as it may, there are signs that George’s cup of humiliation is set to run over soon. The KC(M) meeting scheduled to be held on April 17, is likely to suspend him and strip him of all privileges he is entitled to as the party’s vice-chairman. Even if he is suspended, George will have to abide by the whip issued by the party. For, defiance of the whip would mean automatic disqualification from the MLA’s post for George.

That is why George wanted the UDF leaders including the CM, IUML strongman, P. K. Kunhalikkutty and Home Minister, Ramesh Chennithala, who played the mediators to persuade Mani to expel him from the party and let him revive his former party, Kerala Congress(Secular) which he merged into KC(M) on the request of these three leaders. But George’s game plan foundered on the rock of Mani’s refusal to play ball.

There is no denying the fact that George has painted himself into a corner. The only honourable option for the man, whose waspish tongue has spared virtually none in his own party and outside, is to resign as MLA and face fresh elections from his constituency, Poonjar. But the question is: Will he do that?

It remains to be seen whether the George’s plan to battle corruption will strike a responsive chord among the people at large. If the response of the sizable crowd which attended a reception accorded to George in the State capital is any guide, Oommen Chandy has reasons to worry. A plus point for George is that despite their best efforts, his detgractors have not been able to make any charges of corruption or misconduct against him, so far! That has allowed the burly MLA from Poonjar to occupy the moral high ground.

The Congress has also been badly battered by the KC(M) crisis. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had to face strong criticism at the KPCC meeting convened to discuss the issue. The leaders belonging to the I group led by Ramesh Chennithala blasted the CM for so stoutly defending Mani, who is in the eye of the bar bribery storm.

KPCC vice-president, V. D. Satheesan bluntly told the Chief Minister that he should have asked Mani to step down to save the image of the Government. Instead of trying to strengthen the Congress, the CM was busy trying to save Mani, forgetting that the Congress will have to pay a heavy political and electoral price for continuing to back Mani, who is being perceived as corrupt. Significantly, a recent survey revealed that an overwhelming 89 per cent of the people surveyed opined that Mani should have resigned.

The ‘Saritha letter bomb’ has further sullied the image of the Congress. The letter has, named besides Jose Mani, the names of Congress leaders, K. C. Venugopal MP, ministers, Adoor Prakash, AP Anil Kumar and Aryadan Mohammed!

The letter has lent the lurid hue of an adult movie to the political crisis. It remains to be seen how the CM and the UDF will undo the incalculable damage inflicted by the letter. With the local bodies elections only a few months away, the worry lines on the foreheads of Congress leaders are deepening. (IPA Service)