The I group led by Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala is furious over Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s ‘blind support’ to Mani who is under a corruption cloud.

The I group is of the firm view that continued support to ‘tainted’ Mani will further tarnish the Congress’s image and cost the party dear in the upcoming local bodies elections this year and the more important Assembly elections next year.

The proximate cause of the I group’s anger is the Chief Minister’s reported decision to stand by Mani, who has declared that he would not resign even if he is charghesheeted in the bar bribery case! Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, V. M. Sudheeran is also credited with the view that Mani should not be rubbed the wrong way and nothing should be done to rock the boat of the coalition government.

The reason why Chandy is offering ‘total support’ to Mani is clear. Chandy Government cannot survive if the 8-MLA strong KC(M) withdraws support. For Chandy, survival in power at any cost and completion of the five-year term is more important than anything else. If in the process, the image and credibility of the government suffers, so be it. That seems to be the view of the CM, who is clinging to power like a limpet, according to his detractors both within the party and outside.

Meanwhile, Mani’s position has become further untenable with the polygraph test undergone by Ambili, a key witness in the case, proving positive. The report of the test has validated Ambili’s earlier statement that he had seen Rs 35 lakh being handed over to Mani by the office-bearers of the Bar Owners Association(BOA)!

Ambili is the driver of Biju Ramesh, working president of the BOA, who was the first to come out with allegations of corruption and bribe-taking against Mani. The report further says Ambili had truthfully answered all but two of the 15 questions posed to him by director(Polygraph)K. Pradeep Saji.

Not surprisingly, relations between the Congress and the KC(M) have worsened with the latest development in the case. The KC(M) and its leader Mani are angry about the leakage of the details of the polygraph test. They suspect the hand of Home Minister Chennithala behind the leaking. According to the KC(M) leaders, the I group led by Chennithala is keen on chargesheeting Mani, and thus force Chandy, who heads the rival ‘A’ group in the Congress, to act against Mani by demanding his resignation.

Speculation is also rife that the KC(M) itself will be a house divided against itself should Mani be chargesheeted. While loyalists of Mani may stand by him, supporters of P. J. Joseph who merged his KC(J) into the Mani-led KC(M) after he crossed over to the UDF from the CPI(M)-led LDF, before the last assembly elections, may come out openly against him once the chargesheet is filed.

Either way, UDF politics is set to enter the ‘slog overs’ in the days ahead. Reports have it that though the CM is trying his level best to save Mani, the latter may be prosecuted as the Home Minister-led I group is not enthusiastic about saving the Finance Minister.

All said and done, if Mani refuses to step down after being chargesheeted, the possibility of the UDF Government collapsing cannot be ruled out altogether. The stand taken by the allies, especially the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) will be crucial, it is learnt. (IPA Service)