Shadow is caste

Caste organisations like the Nair Service Society and the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam of the Ezhavas have turned into self-appointed guardians of communal equilibrium and alleged that the tenuous balance in the ministry has been upset by minorities allegedly turning into a majority 12 Muslims and Christians as opposed to nine Hindus in the cabinet. It has been an unprecedented,public identification of ministers on the basis of the caste and religion they belonged to rather than their political affiliations. The chief minister,instead of putting forward an inclusive,political argument,is playing into their threats. With a crucial by-election coming up,Chandy has tried to propitiate the upper-caste,mostly pro-Congress Nairs by giving away the home and health portfolios to partymen from that community. There has been an attempt to placate the Ezhavas as well.

The vice-like grip of caste has been associated more with the politics of the countrys north than of the south. Over the last decade of so,however,development issues appear to have gained an edge over the identity politics that churned up north India in the turbulent 1990s. Larger social coalitions were formed in several states,with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar becoming the mascot of that change. In Kerala,however,caste reform movements over a century ago and the educational and social uplift of its backward communities have led to a politics far less weighed down by caste and community considerations. Now,under a weak political leadership,the state is in danger of losing its way. While castes and communities should have due representation in government,the Congress leadership must show sagacity in negotiating the pulls and pressures. It cannot afford to cede the political initiative.