After diktat, Chandy to induct rival in Kerala Cabinet

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President Ramesh Chennithala will be inducted into the Cabinet in a hurried reshuffle of Cabinet just ahead of a crucial Assembly session and in good time for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Chennithala will be sworn in likely as Home Minister on Thursday ( January 2), to replace Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan in a politically significant move.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy chose to give in to the diktat from the High Command with a view to restoring order in the faction-ridden Congress politics, sources said.

Chennithala’s induction had become the hottest topic after warring factions had lined up for and against it over the last several months.

A series of scams, protest rallies, media sting operation, adverse court references and police action merely helped to incite political passions and colour discourses.

Chief Minister Chandy and his office have been right in the midst of the so-called solar scam that saw his personal staff either resigning on their own or being asked to leave.

This had only encouraged the political Opposition led by the CPI (M) to up the ante and launch a high-voltage campaign for his resignation.

But what must have hurt him more have been the covert and overt attempts by disgruntled elements in the ruling coalition to connive with rival Congress faction and discredit him.

If Chennithala was not seen openly holding fort on their behalf, he excelled in giving the Chief Minister the sulk whenever the latter wanted to discuss strategy with him.

This was because Chennithala had to eat the humble pie after being led up the garden path by the Chandy-led faction earlier in May to a possible Deputy Chief Ministership.

To his credit, Chennithala has always maintained that he is comfortable leading the State unit of the party to the 2014 general elections.

But the rival faction prevailed over him to do a rethink, only to be ditched when it mattered most. This had severely strained the relationship between the two leaders.

The factions have since been fighting a bitter war, direct or through proxies, emboldening even the fringe members of the fragile coalition to take centre-stage to join the free-for-all.

In the midst of all these, the Chief Minister braved the Opposition to hit the road with the mass contact programmes that have already won him UN recognition.

“In command on streets, not in the capital,” was the refrain of critics who saw a Government in drift. Cabinet colleagues speaking in different voices made matters only worse.

It is at this juncture that the High Command has intervened, calling party members to fall in line or else. Lok Sabha elections are too close for it for comfort, sources said.

Chennithala was called to Delhi and directed to join the Cabinet if he did not want to present to the voters a party split right through the middle.

Chennithala is scheduled to be sworn in on New Year day by the Governor Nikhil Kumar. The party leadership has not yet found a replacement for him at the helm of the State unit. vinson.kurian@thehindu.co.in