Leader vs High Command

The Congress was in deep trouble in Kerala in the 1960s. With the approval of a pliable governor, the assembly was kept in suspended animation for about three years. A resentful electorate got its own back when assembly polls were finally held simultaneously with the 1967 General Election; in a House of 133, the Congress won just nine seats. Karunakaran, one of the lucky nine, was elected leader of the Congress group. The mantle of 8216;Leader8217; thus descended on him at more or less the same time that a sari was first draped around Signorina Maino.

Would it be unkind to point out another coincidence? Karunakaran became leader of the Congress legislative party in Kerala just as its fortunes hit the nadir. Sonia Gandhi became Leader of the Opposition when the Congress turned in its most miserable performance, winning just 112 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha. But that could turn out to be a good omen for the Congress president; after all, the 8216;Leader8217; has enjoyed 35 heady years in active politics since that bleak day in 1967.

In all that time, a constant feature of Karunakaran8217;s politics was his loyalty to the high command. He stayed true to Indira Gandhi even when the Congress split after the Emergency. His loyalists never tire of repeating this, mostly to remind everyone that A.K. Antony8217;s first bite at chief ministership came after he left Indira Gandhi. The first sign of a break with the high command came in 1993; Karunakaran, then chief minister, was asked how the party had lost the Ottapalam by-election. The Lok Sabha seat was vacated by K.R. Narayanan when he was elected vice-president. The Congress had lost the Muslim vote, was the Leader8217;s response, because of Delhi8217;s dithering over Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

That potential rift was smoothed over though Narasimha Rao would have his revenge by making Antony the chief minister some time later. A second major difference of opinion with the high command came in 1999. After the fall of the Vajpayee ministry, Sonia Gandhi mulled over a coalition ministry. Whatever form it took 8212; a purely Congress administration, a coalition, a ministry supported from outside by the Congress 8212; arithmetic dictated some kind of understanding between Congressmen and the Marxists. Karunakaran objected strenuously, saying it would sound the Congress8217;s death-knell in Kerala.

Both in 1993 and in 1999 Karunakaran took care to fight on a matter of principle 8212; the Congress8217;s attitude to the minorities in the first instance, and its willingness to share power with other, non-BJP parties in the second. So, is there any larger issue at stake today, or is it just an old man smarting from not getting his mete of respect? Is there anything to the claim, as some discreetly whisper, of a fight for self-respect and inner-party democracy? Probably six of one and half-a-dozen of the other. And that may be why the high command is treating the veteran and his followers with kid gloves.

Think about it: the official Congress candidates in the recent Rajya Sabha polls were Vayalar Ravi and Thennala Balakrishna Pillai. Yet Karunakaran managed to find 20 MLAs who proposed the name of his own man, Kodoth Govindan Nair. He then did even better in the actual election, getting 26 first preference votes for Nair. Obviously, the call for self-respect 8212; or just dislike of the Antony faction 8212; has found some takers in Kerala.

Sonia Gandhi is aware that all it takes to effect a split in the Congress legislature party in Kerala is 21 MLAs. 10 more will mean that the Congress-led Antony ministry will lose its majority as well. So, at least for the moment, any hasty disciplinary action against the 8216;Leader8217; seems set to boomerang. Which is why the same lady who had refused even to meet Karunakaran a few months ago has now consented to hold peace-talks.

Personally, I think Sonia Gandhi holds all the trumps if it does come to an open confrontation. She is younger and has the backing of the family name. And the octogenarian Leader, while not afraid to wound, may yet hesitate to go in for the kill. After all, he has spent a lifetime in the service of the party. Even Narasimha Rao can8217;t match his record. Where shall he go if he leaves the Congress? Certainly not to his bitter rivals in the Marxist camp! The Congress has damaged itself quite enough in Kerala thanks to factionalism. It is in the interest of all sides now to smooth things over. If the high command must stoop a little or the Leader consent to be led, then so be it. Unless, that is, both sides want to afflict Kerala with another bout of Nayanar-ism!