A small effort for a big plan

That8217;s when he announced the youth Congress rally, which though sounded ironic, could well be a launching pad that he desperately needed.The massive participation of party workers in the rally and the public meeting was undoubtedly a personal victory for Karunakaran. For, the rally was organised against heavy odds. The party is out of power both in the State and at the Centre and hence strapped for funds. The morale of party workers is at its lowest as the Congress has not been able to conduct organisational elections in the State. In these circumstances, many, particularly the leaders of the rival groups in the party, predicted that the rally would turn out to be a fiasco.

But then, Karunakaran has an uncanny ability to survive crises. In his chequered political career spanning over six decades, he has survived many a crisis, political for instance, the infamous Rajan case when he had to quit as Chief Minister in 1977 following charges of police excesses behind the custodial death of an engineering student and physical a near-fatal car accident.

Karunakaran is one of the few leaders who has stood solidly behind the Nehru family whenever the Congress Party split in the past. As such, he maintained a cordial relationship with the late Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and even after their death, he wanted a member of the Nehru family to take over the leadership of the Congress, even if that meant crowning Rajiv8217;s widow with the presidentship of the Congress.

But Sonia Gandhi8217;s reluctance to enter active politics and the group rivalries in the party allowed Kesri to don the mantle of Congress President. Karunakaran could not strike a good equation with Kesri and his known opposition to Kesri8217;s candidature for the party presidentship in the recent election marked the final parting of ways between the two.Karunakaran, with all his political astuteness and Machiavellian wiliness, still believes that only Sonia can save the Congress and the nation in these critical times. In Friday8217;s rally too, Karunakaran made an impassioned plea to Sonia to take over the leadership of the party, thereby obliquely expressing his lack of faith in Kesri8217;s leadership.

Obviously to embarrass Kesri, Karunakaran has been issuing public threats to the Gujral Government to toe the Congress line or step down. In Friday8217;s rally, Karunakaran declared that he would not raise his hands in support of the Gujral Government if it allowed any constituent of the United Front to remain in power, even for a day, if it is found by the Jain Commission to have even a remote link with Rajiv Gandhi8217;s assassination.

It is a commentary on Karunakaran8217;s isolation in the inner power circle of the Congress that no central leader of the party responded to his invitation to address the rally. Consequently, it was reduced to a veritable Karunakaran show, the other speakers being political lightweights in the State Congress. That the organisers too wanted it to be an all-Karunakaran show was clear from the hysterical shouts of 8220;Call Karunakaran and Save Kerala8221; heard at the rally.

Besides signalling his comeback to active politics in Kerala, Karunakaran had one more purpose in organising the rally 8212; to project his son and KPCC General Secretary K. Muraleedharan as a leader in his own right. After Karunakaran, it was Muraleedharan who stole the limelight both at the rally and at the public meeting.

Understandably, the massive response to the rally has caused a flutter in rival camps within the Congress. The leaders of the rival groups sought to play down the success of the rally by maintaining that not more than 25,000 people had attended it against the 1.5 lakh participants anticipated by the organisers. Naturally, the rival camps too would now be compelled to organise similar shows of strength.

His comeback bid notwithstanding, Karunakaran cannot be unaware of the hurdles ahead. His arch rival, A.K. Antony, is the only representative of Kerala on the Congress Working Committee. Most of the leaders of any consequence are with the Antony group or the third group led by AICC Joint Secretary Ramesh Chennithala.

Moreover, much of the organisational machinery of the Congress and its feeder organisations is controlled by the rival groups.