Thiruvananthapuram:
Trouble is brewing in Kerala's ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) alliance, barely a week after its outstanding win in the Piravom assembly bypoll. A worried Congress has now sought more time from its allies to defuse the crisis.
Muslim League, which has four ministers in the UDF cabinet, has stepped up its demand for another ministerial berth. This comes amid another UDF constituent Kerala Congress (J) demanding that its newly-elected MLA from Piravom be sworn-in as a minister immediately. To make matters worse, another UDF partner Kerala Congress (B) wants to replace its nominee in the cabinet.
A meeting of the UDF alliance partners in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday saw these parties demanding their pound of flesh for the Piravom bypoll win. The Congress leadership has for now mollified the Muslim League by buying more time to meet its demand. The Congress has told the Muslim League that it will take a decision on the 5th cabinet berth for the party after talks with the Congress high command. This after reports that the Muslim League, which is UDF's second-biggest constituent, was planning to pull out its ministers from the cabinet and offer outside support to the government.
The UDF had fought the Piravom assembly bypoll with the promise that its candidate Anoop Jacob of the Kerala Congress (J) would be made a minister if he wins. The bypoll was necessitated after Mr Anoop's father and UDF minister TM Jacob, who represented Piravom, died in October last year. After the win, the Kerala Congress (J) is worried that the Congress may offer it a less-important portfolio. Though the party leadership pressed the Congress to expedite Mr Anoop's swearing in, the latter has refused to give any time-frame.
Another headache for the alliance is the public spat between Kerala Congress (B) chief R Balakrishna Pillai and his son and minister K B Ganesh Kumar. 45-year-old Kumar is the party's only MLA and enjoys the backing of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. But 77-year-old Pillai has been eyeing the minister's chair ever since he was released from jail a few months ago. Kerala Congress (B) had recently expelled Kumar from the post of vice-chairman for functioning in a "unilateral manner" with "total disrespect to the party leadership". But big brother Congress, wary of the risks involved in effecting a change of guard now, has brushed the issue under the carpet.
For the UDF, any minor fissure within its ranks is a cause of concern as it has only two seats more than the half-way mark in the 140-member assembly. Another bypoll is round the corner in Neyyattinkara after the resignation of a CPM legislator. The UDF clearly wants to steer clear of controversies and face the hustings unitedly. But will the UDF allies remain united till the Neyyattinakara bypoll is over? That is the big question doing the rounds in political circles here.