Sibling tiff puts Karuna in quit mode

Muraleedharan resigned today as KPCC chief anticipating Cabinet induction. He is believed to have climbed down and is expected to accept either the Excise or Power Ministry. The party also has no problem offering a Rajya Sabha seat to Karunakaran, say AICC sources. It has already agreed that his loyalist and party vice-president P.P. Thankachan can be made PCC in-charge, at least for the time being. The rub lies with what is to be given to the daughter.

The AICC panel that looked into the Kerala tangle had struck down the idea of giving her a Lok Sabha nomination. And it is she, say sources, who is egging her father on to launch a new party.

With Muraleedharan’s decision to remain in the party, there is no threat to the A.K. Antony government. But Karunakaran has the potential to damage the Congress in three LS constituencies, if he forms a party of his own. He would also dilute the feelgood factor, the Congress had begun to experience in the South after stitching up alliances in TN and Maharashtra.

The trouble is that for the last 10 months, the party vacillated on its stand on Karunakaran. During this period, Karunakaran reportedly encouraged his followers to join hands with the Left in local bodies and some loyalists managed to become panchayat chiefs. They too are acting as a pressure point for a new party because they don’t want to lose newfound power.

There are those in the Congress who view the Kerala developments as a fight between brother and sister. And there are others who believe the family is working in tandem and it is part of Karunakaran’s strategy to move his son to the Government, try and capture control of the party by installing his loyalist as its chief, and yet have the option of launching a new party and damage Congress prospects.

Strangely, it was Antony who had reportedly restrained the high command from acting against Muraleedharan or against the two Ministers who had voted against the official Congress candidate in elections to the Rajya Sabha and later during the Ernakulam bypoll. At one stage, Karunakaran wanted to topple the government but could not rustle up the numbers to split the party, even though the Left had signalled its support.

At crucial moments, Antony has shied away from advocating tough action because he feared it would rock the boat. It is only recently that his loyalist MLAs met and gave him a clear ‘‘enough is enough’’ signal, indicating they would not support him if he continued to compromise.