Ruckus in Assembly: Kerala proves it is no "God's own country"
A question in a general knowledge quiz in the near future could be: What is the real role of the Kerala legislative Assembly? And the options are:
(a) Dormitory for MLAs and ministers to sleep the night
(b) Unruly wrestling venue
(c) Place to demonstrate chair-throwing skills
(d) Slogan-shouting venue
(e) All of the above
If what happened on Friday, March 13 is anything to go by, option (e) is the correct option. With all ruling and Opposition MLAs deciding to have a night out in the Assembly complex, the stage was set for the most ugly and undignified scenes in the Kerala Assembly. The MLAs pushed, kicked, bit, hit each other and the watch and ward staff. Kerala's elected representatives shamed Kerala today. They proved that education is no guarantee for civilised behaviour.
In a sense, it was expected. Ever since Kerala finance minister KM Mani chose to be defiant and refused to resign despite serious charges of corruption. That his MLAs are critical to Oommen Chandy's continuation as chief minister only ensured that the Kerala chief minister will back Mani. The LDF sensing an opportunity, made the presentation of the budget a prestige issue. The stage was set for a confrontation.
With elections just a year away, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has upped the ante and the United Democratic Front (UDF) decided to dig in its heels. The latter realises that the LDF is making corruption the big issue in the elections and so it is trying to focus on the unruly nature of the Left parties, reducing an important occasion like the budget presentation into an ugly slugfest.
What are the takeaways from the Kerala's date with shame?
(a) Chandy needs to realise that his image has taken a severe beating. He was able to deflect the stain on his own shirt in the solar scam in 2013 in which members of the CM's staff were allegedly involved. But Chandy insisted he personally was clean. But the bar bribery scam has landed at Mani's doorstep. Chandy's finance minister is a political liability and by backing him, Chandy has committed a political blunder.
(b) The problem with politicians is that they think only about the Opposition parties, forgetting that it is the people who will decide their fate. If only Chandy looked around, found out why people in thousands were sending moneyorders to Mani's residence, pleading "don't accept bribes, we will give you money", he would realise that the corruption as an issue is bothering the Malayalee. That the "tainted" finance minister bulldozing his way, is harming the UDF's image.
(c) Not that the LDF does not have its own set of problems. That Mr Clean of Kerala politics, VS Achuthanandan will not be the CM candidate is a known fact. Vijayan, the frontrunner has also been accused of corruption in the SNC Lavalin case and was discharged in the case in 2013.
(d) The UDF and LDF continue to point fingers at each other, without realising the people of Kerala are fed up with the antics of both parties. It is Kerala's misfortune that it ends up having to choose between the two every five years, much like its next door neighbour Tamil Nadu gives the DMK and the AIADMK five years each in office. Today's events are a wake-up call for the Kerala voter that they need to change the template of state politics as well.
And finally, it is time to change the tagline "God's own country". Even the gods won't approve.