Saturday, March 12, 2016

The 'manthan' that's going on in the state's CPM unit.

There's a tinge of irony in the way things are going on in the CPM camp towards the run up to the Assembly elections. Consider these:-

  (a) The LDF had an impressive win during the recently conducted panchayat elections. However,
        if one were to ask me, their's should have been better because of the following factors:-
          (i) the UDF was faction ridden and there were a lot of rebel candidates. Yet its showing was
               impressive.
         (ii) the spate of corruption charges heaped on the UDF from the solar scam to the bar bribery
               case were good enough to have the coalition humbled but nothing of that sort happened.

   (b) Pinarayi Vijayan and his group had systematically stacked their people in the state secretariat
         of the CPM over the last decade or so. VS Achuthanandan is no more its member.

   (c) Despite that Vijayan neither has the charisma nor the LDF partners' all round acceptance as he's
        seen to be sarcastic, averse to criticism and unsparing towards political opponents that do not toe          his line!

   (d) He's positioned himself as the chief ministerial candidate because he knows that if he were to
         miss it this time, he might never be able to make it.

   (e) VS Achuthanandan, on the other hand, is charismatic and is considered a crusader against
         corruption with his clean image, his son's professional advancement seemingly without merit,
         notwithstanding! On the other hand, Pinarayi Vijayan has the blot of the 'SNC Lavalin case' as
         a millstone around his neck.

    (f) The state secretariat has been trying hard to keep Achuthanandan from contesting, citing his
         advancing age but to no avail, as Achuthanandan had clearly stated that in such a scenario, he
         wouldn't be available for the election campaign which can upset the CPM's electoral
         calculations.

    (g) In an unlikely scenario of him being kept in the sidelines, he can still play spoilsport by voicing
          his dissent on Pinarayi Vijayan being made the chief minister - because of his taint - after the
          elections in which the LDF, supposedly, gets the majority!

The CPM's central secretariat's caveat, at this juncture, that both the leaders should contest is a convenient side stepping tactic of the vexed issue. If Achuthanandan wins, he'll have to be made the leader of the legislature and thereby, the CM - a situation that would be horrifying for Pinarayi Vijayan and his group!


Tailpiece.

One of these two scenarios can also emerge:-

    (a) Oommen Chandy and the UDF buck the trend and get a repeat mandate to rule the state
          by virtue of their impressive development achievements, the yet to be proved scams,
          notwithstanding.
    (b) The BJP-SNDP coalition, along with a couple of the splinter groups of the Kerala
          Congress - unhappy with both the UDF and the LDF - notches a few seats making it a hung
          Assembly, paving the way for an interlude of President's rule. Mind you, in case that happens
          it would be 50 years after the last such happening!
    

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