The Hindu Business Line : New CM, new hopes?

AS 61-year-old Oommen Chandy emerges from the shadow of A.K. Antony to take control of a State that has certainly seen better days, he has his work clearly cut out for him. For a start, he will have to set his own house - the Congress party - in order, placating the different factions, keeping at bay crafty troublemakers, and generally holding the hands of umpteen party workers. Given his track record in the student and youth movement - he was president of the Kerala Students Union - as well as his conduct as Convenor of the United Democratic Front (UDF), he is likely to perform that role well.

Having done all that, he will then have to clean the rooms of a much larger house - the economy of a State that has begun to rot, with inadequate resource mobilisation endeavours over the years and a bloated governmental expenditure, which have begun to eat into the social innards of the State.

As the tempo of resource mobilisation has tapered off, the funds flow to core sectors like education, public health and infrastructure has diminished. The unique Kerala model of development has begun to fray at the edges. It will be a major challenge for him to recover that unique legacy of economic and social dominance in the economic map of the country.

And that will be the new Chief Minister's greatest challenge ever, perhaps the most formidable test that the eight-time Member of the Legislative Assembly from Puthuppally in Kottayam district has ever faced - putting Kerala on a path of real development, both in industrial and sociocultural terms.

On assuming office, all Chief Ministers say "development" is their top priority, but the exigencies of coalition politics and the peculiarly irksome characteristics of Kerala's polity soon put paid to such lofty ambitions, and they all get mired in routine firefighting, leaving the State to run on auto-pilot.

But the sad fact is that this aircraft can no longer go far on auto-pilot. It needs a keen-sighted pilot with firm hands and a no-nonsense approach. From that point of view, Mr Chandy would do well to ignore the advice of his former mentors, who despite tremendous goodwill and a reasonably smart start, turned out to be the epitome of indecisiveness and inaction.

Mr Chandy - whose present position marks the first break from nearly three decades of Congress leadership alternating between Mr Karunakaran and Mr Antony - will have to draw on his past stints as Labour Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister to turn around the fortunes of Kerala.

The first signs are encouraging - doing away with his security cover, promising to cut government expenditure and ministerial staff, and acknowledging and highlighting the role of non-resident Malayalees.

"For years they have been the backbone of the Kerala economy and their contribution to the State will certainly be recognised in the best possible manner," Mr Chandy was quoted in an interview to India Abroad News Service.

"I am pretty poor when it comes to making speeches, but I overcome that with my biggest advantage - the manner in which I vibe with those who come to see me. My strength is the love and affection that I have been receiving all these years from the people of Kerala and that is how I overcome all my weaknesses," he added.

As Keralites wait and watch what magic rabbit the new Chief Minister will pull out of his hat, we can only wish him the very best of luck.

The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com

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