Turmoil in Kerala

Will the crisis in the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala come to boil when the budget session opens on January 25? That the management of the present crisis is beyond the skills and devices of chief minister Karunakaran may be seen from the fact that Congress high command has called for talks not only the Congress dissidents but the constituents of UDF too. In fact, the chief minister has wanted the convener of UDF to apprise the Congress President of the seriousness of the situation in the state. Of course, Karunakaran has briefed, in expectation of their good offices, all his supporters in Delhi like Pranab Mukherjee. What has really rattled the chief minister is the change in the attitude of the Indian Union Muslim League and the Kerala Congress (Mani group), both major partners in the government. Both the partners have taken a dim view of the stand taken by the chief minister in shielding the discredited inspector-general of police, Ramon Shrivastava in the ISRO espionage case in which the high court has passed several strictures against the police official when it said that the evidence of his involvement is the spy case in “unmistakabkle”. This is also a commentary on the conduct of the chief minister about which the entire state is exercised. Both IUML and Kerala Congress (Mani group) think that they can no longer associate themselves with a ministry led by Karunakaran.