Kerala has the significant, if not dubious, distinction of being the most politicised state in the country. Every major development in any corner of the world would be debated vigorously and at length in the state’s intellectual and social circles. But now, with the elections to the state Assembly having been notified (the state will go to the polls on April 13), a curious phenomenon has emerged. Sleaze, corruption and probity in politics have grabbed the centre stage of the state’s pre-poll discourse as never before.For decades, Kerala’s political scene has been dominated by two coalitions: the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the CPI(M) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). And the electorate is known for changing their preference between these two every five years. This time too, the opposition UDF had a clear edge until a few weeks ago, after decisive wins in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and the local body polls held late last year.
All hell broke loose with a couple of ‘revelations’ made by K A Rauf, a businessman, hardly a month prior to the declaration of the election dates. Rauf is a close relative of P K Kunhalikutty, a prominent leader of the Indian Union Muslim League which is a major constituent of the UDF. He alleged that the ice cream parlour sex racket case involving Kunhalikutty had been sabotaged by bribing the witnesses, victims and even two judges of the High Court of Kerala. Some video footages too appeared on a local TV channel in support of Rauf’s claims.
Immediately after this episode, R Balakrishna Pillai, another UDF leader, was sentenced to a year of rigorous imprisonment by the Supreme Court in a graft case. A ‘hero’s welcome’ was accorded to Pillai by the UDF in Kottarakkara, his home town, which in turn led to a still bigger row. K Sudhakaran, the Congress MP from Kannur who spoke at the meeting, claimed that he was witness to an episode where a Supreme Court judge had accepted bribe to reinstate the pub licences quashed by the Kerala High Court in the early 90s. Several questions were raised on the MP’s own role in the murky deal and a New Delhi-based lawyers’ organisation has moved a contempt of court petition against him before the Supreme Court.
Close on the heels of this controversy, Congress leader and former state civil supplies minister T H Musthafa, who is also an accused in the palm oil import graft case, filed a discharge petition before the Vigilance court in Thiruvananthapuram. In the petition, Musthafa contended that the decision to import palm oil was a collective one of the state cabinet, which was taken to mean that he alone should not be targeted because the-then finance minister and present leader of opposition Oommen Chandy was left out from the list of the accused.
The ruling LDF, which was clearly on the back foot facing a strong anti-incumbency mood after a series of electoral reverses, seized the opportunity and launched a fresh offensive against the opposition citing all these episodes. The UDF, deeply perturbed by this sudden avalanche of setbacks, had to go on the defensive for some time in between. But in a week, they started the counter-offensive by directly targeting chief minister V S Achuthanandan and his son V A Arunkumar, a state government official. The strategy was to ruin the image of the chief minister who commands mass appeal. And the game of mudslinging is going on and on.
Interestingly, both the fronts are yet to come up with their manifestos. Still it looks as if the agenda for the campaign has already been set. Dirt is mounting every passing day, with debates on TV and other public venues turning into slinging matches. The mega scams reported at the national level too are figuring in the debates.
This sharp shift in focus has generated a counter-debate in the social circles. A Catholic archbishop from south Kerala came up with an observation that it is more advisable to support atheists who adhere to values rather than tainted believers in the elections. It may be noted that the Christian minority has always been a reliable support base for the UDF.
Needless to say, this kind of negativism effectively edges out any healthy debate on crucial issues in the run-up to the elections. Several key sectors in the state like education, health, industry etc still lack reform-oriented development.
