Coalition of communities rules Kerala

The reshuffle was done without consulting the Congress state leadership,which has brought Chief Minister Oommen Chandy under fire from the state unit as well as Union minister Vayalar Ravi.

Since it took over in May 2011,the Congress-led United Democratic Front government was being described as one run by Muslims and Christians. The IUML and the Kerala Congress,a regional Christian party,held several key portfolios — the same ones they had held consistently in successive UDF governments. They together have 29 members in the 72-strong front,with the IUML’s share of 20 representing an all-time high. The Congress has 38 members.

The present crisis began when Chandy yielded to the IUML demand for an additional berth,its fifth. IUML chief Panakkad Hyderali Shihab Thangal,in fact,unilaterally announced the fifth minister at his Malappuram home. The state Congress was against this for fear that it would upset the Hindu lobby,but Chandy eventually inducted the IUML’s M Ali.

This raised the minority strength in the 21-member cabinet into 12,leading to an uproar from the Hindu lobby and forcing Chandy to address the majority segment’s concerns too. His flagship Home went to Thiruvanchoor Nair,an upper class Hindu Nair,and Revenue to Adoor Prakash,of the backward Hindu Ezhava community. Yet leaders of both communities dismissed these moves as gimmicks.

Community control

A senior Congress leader said it’s not just in the cabinet but in every government department that appointments are being made on the recommendations of community leaders. “We have middle-level police officers who come with recommendations from their community leaders for important postings. Merit is being given short shrift,” the leader said.

In the Congress,interference from community- and caste-based groups begins at the time candidates are selected. For the last Lok Sabha elections,the Varapoly Catholic diocese had sent a list of candidates to the party high command; Union Minister K V Thomas and former NUS president Hybi Eden were in the list. Then,for the Assembly elections,the Catholic diocese of Thrissur sent a wish list that went against the initial plans of the Congress,which still yielded,fielding a church candidate in Alappuzha.

Although Kerala’s Christian population,particularly that of Catholics,has been on the decline due to effective family planning and outward migration,the number of dioceses has been going up. And every new diocese has been turning into a power centre,forcing political leaders to take note of their respective bishops’ recommendations.

The upper-class Hindu Nair community,traditionally pro-Congress,too has been dictating terms to the party,through the powerful Nair Service Society. When Shashi Tharoor became a Union minister,the NSS would not count him. “He is a Delhi Nair… Congress has ignored Kerala Nairs,” said NSS leader Sukumaran Nair,now general secretary of the organisation. After Tharoor resigned,the Congress wooed the NSS by making K C Venugopal,a Kerala nair,a Union minister of state. In the state cabinet,the Temple Affairs Department was given to Nair Congress leader V S Shivakumar on an NSS recommendation.

Now,following the induction of the fifth IUML minister,the NSS has threatened the Congress,reminding the party about the upcoming Neyyatinkara by-election,where the Nair community has considerable sway. Congress minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan,a Nair himself,rushed to the NSS headquarters to talk peace. After meeting Sukumaran Nair,Radhakrishnan announced on Saturday that the Congress had no outstanding issues with NSS.

Ministers too ensure their teams comprise members of their own communities. The personal staff of the four IUML ministers are mostly Muslims. And in the personal staff of Kerala Congress ministers,most members are Christians. In the Education Department run by the IUML,the directors for public instruction,higher secondary,vocational higher secondary and State Council of Educational Research and Training are Muslims. The IUML would have appointed a Muslim higher secondary teacher as the VC of Calicut University,too,but for Chandy’s protest.

Willing Congress

Apart from being torn between the IUML and the Kerala Congress,the Congress is facing the heat from Muslim leaders within too. These leaders fear a threat to their own careers because of the presence of the IUML in the UDF. Congress MP from North Kerala M I Shanavas recently said Muslims were being denied their due in the Congress because the community is seen to be represented by the IUML.

Vellappally Natesan,general secretary of the prominent Ezhava organization Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam,has said the Congress has been openly playing into the hands of minority groups. The IUML and the Kerala Congress are filling government departments with their men,he said,while the Congress has been reduced to a scarecrow.

“Ezhavas form one-third of the state’s population. But in the present government,only three Congress legislators belong to the Ezhava community,which is least represented in the present legislature,’’ said Natesan,whose community is represented in the Union Cabinet by ministers Vayalar Ravi and Mullappally Ramachandran. Ezhavas are traditionally a Left votebank.

“The Church,the NSS and the SNDP cannot be blamed for meddling in party affairs,” said a Congress leader,who preferred to blame the party itself. “Had the Congress leadership stood up against the unfair demands of the communities,the present predicament could have been avoided. The caste-based groups have realised that the Congress would bow to their diktat. We have a leadership that crawls before religious and community leaders.”

CPM politburo member M A Baby said the Congress’s willingness to follow every order from caste and community leaders has converted the state into a lunatic asylum,as Kerala was once described by Swami Vivekananda. By bowing to community leaders,the Congress had gone against political and democratic values,he said. He said Left leaders had shown adequate respect to community heads,but ministers were never appointed to suit their interests.

The Break-up
Christians

Chandy (above),Orthodox church; Cong also has K C Joseph (Catholic),Kerala Cong has K M Mani,P J Joseph (Catholics),Anoop Jacob (Jacobite),RSP(B) has Shibu Baby John (Catholic). P C George (chief whip,Kerala Congress,Catholic) enjoys cabinet rank.

Muslims

M Ali of IUML (top left),freshly inducted. Other four IUML ministers are P K Abdu Rubb,K Ibrahimkunju,P K Kunhalikutty and M K Muneer. Aryadan Muhammed is Congress.

Hindus

Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan (Cong,Nair),Adoor Prakash (Cong,Ezhava) get key berths; pictured left (centre & bottom). Nairs V S Shivakumar,C N Balakrishnan (both Cong),K B Ganesh Kumar (Kerala Cong-B),K P Mohanan (SJD,sub-caste); with Cong’s K Babu (Ezhava),P K Jayalakshmi (ST),K P Anil Kumar (SC) complete the list.