The Kerala government on Thursday appointed Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and former Lok Sabha member A Sampath as a special envoy to liaise with the Centre. He will work to maintain a cordial relationship between BJP-led union government and CPI(M)-led Kerala government.
Government also expects that the presence of Sampath, a three-time MP from Attingal, will help Kerala get financial aid from the Centre on time.
Sampath will be based in New Delhi with the Cabinet rank for the remaining period of the Pinarayi Vijayan government. He will get the services of a private secretary, two assistants, an office attendant and a driver. The appointment is a first in the history of Kerala. The opposition parties have already cried foul and termed it as 'the rehabilitation of a CPI(M) leader who lost the recent Lok Sabha polls'.
The appointment of Sampath and his team might cost the government around Rs 50 lakh a year. This is a huge burden on the state that is reeling under severe cash crunch after last year's floods. Moreover, the cabinet annouced the appointment on a day when the state imposed one per cent flood cess on goods and services.
Why another person?
The logic behind appointing a liaison officer when Kerala is being represented in New Delhi by 20 Lok Sabha MPs, 9 Rajys Sabha MPs and a Union Minister raises many eyebrows.
Moreover, Kerala already has a resident commissioner in the national capital to look after the state's affairs.
Sampath's answer to such criticisms is this: “The IAS officers have their duties well. They may have their own limitations. For years, many states have been seeking the help of non-bureaucratic public servants to overcome such limitations,” he told Manorama News on Thursday.
Opposition charges
Opposition parties, however, are not willing to buy the argument. While leader of the opposition Ramesh Chennithala said the appointment was a challenge to the public, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Mullappally Ramachandran termed it abuse of power. “Sampath could have been given some party posts. It's not right to spend lakhs of rupees from the state exchequer every month by giving him a cabinet rank,” Mullappally said.
“The government has appointed a former MP, who lost the polls, in Delhi even as it says there are no funds to disburse salaries and pensions,” Chennithala said.
Political motives
Sampath's appointment appears to be the result of some political motives. The CPM found itself in a fix after it lost in 19 out of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala. Though the CPM has three Rajya Sabha MPs from Kerala, the party reportedly doesn't find any of them fit enough to function as a bridge between the state and central governments. Sampath, known as a confidante of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, was picked for the job to fill this vacuum. It is learnt that the proposal for the appointment was sent to the Cabinet from the general administration department, which is controlled by Pinarayi.
It is also alleged that the decision regarding the crucial appointment was kept a secret by the CPM even to its allies. JDS state chief C K Nanu had made his discontent public on Thursday when he said his party was not aware of the move. He said the government might have discussed the move with K Krishnankutty, the lone minister from his party.
It is not sure if CPI, the second largest ally of the ruling front, was informed about the appointment in advance. The party has not reacted to the move yet. However, even if it wants to contest the move it would not be able to do so as the party had recently accepted the post of chief whip with cabinet rank. The CPI which had recently refused to take over the post citing additional expenses to state exchequer recently changed its mind after CPM accommodated its leader E P Jayarajan also in the Cabinet.
Super Cabinet
Pinarayi Vijayan came to power promising minimum government and had decided to restrict the number of ministers to 19. However, the LDF now has 20 ministers after the re-induction of E P Jayarajan. The front refused to drop M M Mani who replaced Jayarajan, after his ouster from the Cabinet following allegations of nepotism, when the latter was taken back to the Cabinet after he got a clean chit.
Apart from the 20 ministers, LDF has accorded Cabinet rank to four, including Sampath. Veteran CPM leader V S Achuthanandan is the chairman of the nearly-defunct Administrative Reforms Council while Kerala Congress (B) chief Balakrishna Pillai heads the commission for the forward castes. CPI's Ollur MLA K Rajan is the chief whip.