Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala. Photo: OnmanoramaThe administration has broken down in Kerala since the Left Democratic Front came to power, claims Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. In an extensive interview with Onmanorama, the Congress leader wonders if chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is on his way to be the worst ruler Kerala has ever seen.
How would you evaluate the Left Democratic Front government's performance in the first year?
They came to power with a promise to set everything in order. They could not keep their word. Moreover, they made the people’s lives more unbearable as they finish a year in office. The public distribution system has been affected. The price of rice has reached Rs 50 in the open market. Cases of harassment of women and children have been reported with alarming frequency. Peace has become a distant memory with a spike in politically motivated murders. The list of misrule is endless. The loan sharks are back after fleeing the land during the term of the United Democratic Front government. Pinarayi Vijayan will go down in history as a man who antagonized the most number of people in the shortest possible time.
How would you rate Pinarayi Vijayan as a chief minister?
Pinarayi Vijayan has always acted against the public opinion. Ego and arrogance have become his trademarks. He is going from false step to false step. "Pinarayi is a standing monument to foolishness," leading journalist T J S George wrote. A chief minister is supposed to keep the dignity of the office. But Pinarayi shocked everyone when he stepped on to the well of the house. He is led by his stubborn attitudes. The last one year has been a march from mistake to mistake. Everything he said or did ended up a mistake. We did not call him "Modi in mundu". His ruling partners did. He failed in leading the cabinet with collective responsibility. He goofed up everything from saying that the Mullaperiyar dam was not weak to dissolving the Cauvery cell. With too many advisers around him, he has lost it. In fact, we still do not know how many advisers has he got.
Has the disunity in the cabinet affected the government's performance? The disagreements with the Revenue Department are out in the open.
A lack of coordination among the departments is the biggest bane of this government. Just look at the Manjeri Medical College. The Health Department's order to create vacancies and rearrange the staff pattern has been pending for approval before the Finance Department for months. The construction of roads in the Alappuzha district has been halted. Even the public works minister has admitted that there had been lapses.
We have had so much cacophony in the name of bringing down an unauthorized cross in Munnar. Prohibitory orders were clamped in Munnar yet the chief minister who was in charge of the home department was not aware of it. It’s a pity. The CPM and the CPI were not on the same page in the Law Academy issue. CPI was the most caustic when the SFI suspended its agitation midway.
I had said that Devikulam MLA S. Rajendran was holding land in Munnar with a fake title deed. The chief minister insisted that Rajendran's title deed was genuine. Two weeks later, revenue minister E. Chandrasekharan refuted the chief minister's claim by saying that Rajendran did not have the title deed. The two parties differ on everything from the Maoist hunt to the Right to Information.
What can the opposition propose to untangle Munnar?
The UDF views migration and encroachment as totally different. We should tackle encroachment without any considerations. We are supporting all eviction drives irrespective of casteist, religious or political interests. The government has been turning a bline eye towards large-scale encroachers.
We need development that did not mess up with the environment in Munnar. We need to form a Munnar Development Authority for that. I had put forward this suggestion several times. We have to protect those who have been living in Munnar for decades. We have to find solutions for their everyday troubles.
The government's police polity has been in the news most of the time. The Supreme Court criticized the government in the T.P. Senkumar case and even ordered it to pay the costs.
Once the home minister loses his grip on the police, it is very
difficult to steer the department forward. The government removed a good officer like T P Senkumar as police chief to appoint Lokanatha Behera in his place. The police struggled to cope with increasing cases of harassment of women and children and murders. The department became chaotic. The government was busy targeting Senkumar. He was even accused of aligning with the Sangh Parivar.
The Supreme Court, however, ordered his reinstatement. The government responded by saying that the order was not clear enough. Everything became clear when the court dismissed the petition and ordered the government to pay Rs 25,000. The government was still debating whether it was a fine or costs. Luckily for them, they did not go to the court again.
* The government is not able to take officers into confidence or take all of them along. Jacob Thomas is missing in action. The movement of files has ground to a halt.
The fact is, Kerala does not have an administration. Files are not moving in the secretariat. IAS officers are in an undeclared passive resistance. The chief minister remained a mute spectator when the IAS and IPS officers took their battle public. Kerala could not even nominate officers for the police medal to be presented on the Republic Day. This is an unprecedented situation.
The crisis in the cinema industry and the disputes between journalists and advocates are far from settled. Jacob Thomas became a liability to the government. The government was left with no option but to ask him to go on leave. Then they made Behera to take charge of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in his place.
* The government is yet to announce its excise polity. What have you to suggest?
The Left is wracking its brains to make alcohol freely available in Kerala. They claim that a shortage of alcohol will lead to a spike in use of drugs. They do not realize that the police and the excise department have to act vigilantly against it. The UDF had a plan to reduce the availability of alcohol in stages. We stand by our demand to close down 10 percent of beverages outlets every year. The government can be assured of a strong agitation if it dilutes the liquor policy.
Even public works minister G Sudhakaran has come out against the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). Is it a practical idea?
We will put our trust in KIIFB when the government shows us a project executed through the KIIFB. We have heard so many such fantastic projects from Thomas Isaac. He even wanted to make money by selling the sand deposited in the dams. None of them have worked out. Isaac is acting like a super chief minister over other departments including public works, health and education. Kerala’s public finance will get a lift when the Goods and Services Act is implemented. Isaac is planning up to 2030.
Has the chief minister’s advisers benefited the state?
Kerala is experiencing it every day. CPI leader Pannian Raveendran nailed it when he commented on the advisers after the government was ordered to pay a fine of Rs 25,000 in the Senkumar case. He said the government must recover the money from the CM’s advisers. Such advisers make the opponents’ job easier. After all, Pinarayi has a political perspective earned over decades. A ruler should be governed by his perspective no matter who advises him. If he sticks to his advisers' counsel at the cost of his experience, he can be assured of the title of the worst ruler in Kerala.
Even the opposition is accused of not doing its part.
If we still face that allegation, despite the KSU and Youth Congress workers braving the brutal torture from the police and the MLAs challenging the government in the assembly and sitting on a hunger strike, it only means that the people are that fed up with the government. Women have faced the most humiliation during the term of a government which came to power raising the banner of women’s security. The loose tongue of minister M M Mani, the sleaze talk of a former minister and the embrace of R Balakrishna Pillai have created disgust in the minds of the voters.
E.P. Jayarajan had to resign as industries minister within 144 days only because of a vigilant opposition. The people are witness to the numerous struggles the opposition has led both within the assembly and outside. The UDF is not interested in hogging news space by destroying public property. We will continue to be a creative opposition. We will expose the corrupt and resist political violence.
