Kochi: Former Union minister and Congress MP, Shashi Tharoor, has said the International airport at nearby Nedumbassery should be named after the late Congress leader K Karunakaran.
Karunakaran was instrumental in seeing the country's first airport to be constructed on a PPP basis become a reality.
Tharoor said on Twitter that .. ' In celebrating leader's life, I call4 Nedumbassery airport in Kochi to renamed Karunakaran International in honour of the man who made it'. In another tweet, he wanted the statue of Karunakaran should be set up in the assembly complex.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Congress chief to decide on re-entry of Muraleedharan
December 29, 2010
Thrissur: President of the Kerala unit of the Congress Ramesh Chennithala Wednesday said the decision on the re-entry of late leader K. Karunakaran's son K. Muraleedharan into the party will be taken by the party chief.
Speaking to reporters after attending a ritual to pay homage to Karunakaran who died Dec 23, he said that chances of Muraleedharan's return to the Congress have improved.
"The manner in which Muraleedharan conducted himself during the recent local body elections has been taken note of by everyone. He has done a good job. Gone are the days when there was stiff opposition to his re-entry. The final decision will now be taken by the party high command shortly," said Chennithala.
Karunakaran, a four-time Kerala chief minister, was unhappy in his last days that his son, who once was the state president of the party, was given a raw deal.
The veteran leader even went to Delhi a few times with the aim of persuading the Congress brass to allow his son's re-entry into the party.
Muraleedharan got crucial support when V.M. Sudheeran, senior Congress leader and a close aide of Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Wednesday said that it was time that there should be no more delay in his return to the party.
"I do not see any resistance from any quarter in the state unit of our party to the return of Muraleedharan," he said.
It was in May 2005 that Karunakaran and Muraleedharan dumped the Congress and formed a new party.
A year later, Karunakaran merged his party with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a Left ally. The Left then broke its ties with the NCP.
A humiliated Karunakaran returned to the Congress. But his son refused to follow him at that time. Later, when Muraleedharan decided to return to the Congress, the state leadership said that he was not welcome.
Thrissur: President of the Kerala unit of the Congress Ramesh Chennithala Wednesday said the decision on the re-entry of late leader K. Karunakaran's son K. Muraleedharan into the party will be taken by the party chief.
Speaking to reporters after attending a ritual to pay homage to Karunakaran who died Dec 23, he said that chances of Muraleedharan's return to the Congress have improved.
"The manner in which Muraleedharan conducted himself during the recent local body elections has been taken note of by everyone. He has done a good job. Gone are the days when there was stiff opposition to his re-entry. The final decision will now be taken by the party high command shortly," said Chennithala.
Karunakaran, a four-time Kerala chief minister, was unhappy in his last days that his son, who once was the state president of the party, was given a raw deal.
The veteran leader even went to Delhi a few times with the aim of persuading the Congress brass to allow his son's re-entry into the party.
Muraleedharan got crucial support when V.M. Sudheeran, senior Congress leader and a close aide of Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Wednesday said that it was time that there should be no more delay in his return to the party.
"I do not see any resistance from any quarter in the state unit of our party to the return of Muraleedharan," he said.
It was in May 2005 that Karunakaran and Muraleedharan dumped the Congress and formed a new party.
A year later, Karunakaran merged his party with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a Left ally. The Left then broke its ties with the NCP.
A humiliated Karunakaran returned to the Congress. But his son refused to follow him at that time. Later, when Muraleedharan decided to return to the Congress, the state leadership said that he was not welcome.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
The Leader - Profile
Karunakaran was born on 5th July 1918 at Chirackkal in Kannur District to Shri.Thekkedathu Ramunni Marar and Smt. Kannoth Kalyani Amma with birth star “Karthika". His father Ramunni Marar was a 'sirastadar', a government job under the then british Malabar state government. He had two elder brothers (Kunjiraman Marar and Balakrishnan Marar) and a younger brother (Damodaran Marar aka Appunni Marar). Their only sister Devaki died when she was merely 5 years old.
As a young boy, Karunakaran was passionate about swimming, football and volleyball. He also demonstrated ample interest in painting. During his early years, while being admitted to the lower primary school, he insisted not to add the caste name 'Marar' to his official name at the school unlike the normal practice of those days. He started his school education in Vadakara LP School and continued through Andalloor and then Chirakkal Raja's School till eighth standard. Later, he had to undergo prolonged treatment due to an eye-related disorder, and was thus relocated (with his elder brother Kunjirama Marar) to the home of his uncle Puthenveettil Raghavan Nair at Vellanikkara, a village, ten kilometer away from Thrissur. The two brothers would later actively participate in the prevailing Indian freedom movement since an early age. The stay at Thrissur would transform their life altogether and engulf them into the politics and trade union activism that was brewing up in the region.
After continuing the school at Sarkar High School, Thrissur (presently Govt. Model Boys High School, Thrissur), Karunakaran wanted to pursue his career in drawing and painting. He joined the Maharaja's Technical Institute (MTI), Thrissur for a Diploma in Design and Drawing. Although he earned the Diploma with a Gold Medal, except for a short stint at a Fine Arts Institute in Thrissur he did not take up painting as a profession and instead turned his attention completely towards the political issues. However, as an artist, he recalls in his biography, his paintings were appreciated well and many of them would fetch a price as good as Rs.500 per piece.
In 1937, Karunakaran joined the flood relief camps that were conducted by V.R. Krishnan Ezhuthachan, C. Achyutha Menon, R.M. Manakkalath and other leaders of Prajamandalam, an early freedom struggle movement in Cochin State. He became a member of the Indian National Congress and began to wear Khadi. He also participated intensively in the trade union activities in the vast Thattil rubber estates where his uncle Raghavan Nair was a 'writer'. During this time, he would spare his artistic skills and labour in helping the workers' union (later INTUC) for their wall writings and campaigns. Gradually, he was picked up by Panampilly Govinda Menon as his most favourite follower. In due course, Karunakaran rose to a level of the senior-most Leader of the Indian National Trade Union Congress(INTUC). The INTUC later became one of the largest trade unions in India having with over 4 million memberships today.
Karunakaran is the founder of United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1970. He evinced utmost care in ensuring cordiality, unity and understanding among the constituent parties, and he commanded absolute control and due respect from them.
His closeness to the Nehru family begins from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and culminated and pinnacled during the tenure of Smt. Indira Gandhi and Shri. Rajiv Gandhi. Karunakaran played the role of King Maker in finding out a successor to Rajiv Gandhi. Being the senior mostensuing elections of 1977.
Karunakaran has been the Chief Minister of Kerala four times. He took charge as Chief Minister for the first time on 25-3-1977. However he tendered his resignation on 25-4-1977, immediately following certain references by the Kerala High Court in what came to be known as Rajan case.
He took charge as Chief Minister again on December 28, 1981. However, this ministry did not last long. He resigned on 17 March 1982, following the withdrawal of support by a member of the Kerala Congress (M). Midterm elections to the 7th Kerala Legislative Assembly was held on May 19, 1982. The Ministry with Shri. K.Karunakaran as Chief Minister assumed office on 24 May 1982 and continued till 1987. On June 24, 1991, Shri.K.Karunakaran took charge again as Chief Minister of Kerala for the fourth term, and resigned on March 16, 1995, making way for A.K.Antony to take up the Chief Ministership.
After A. K. Antony was elected as Kerala chief minister in 2001, Karunakaran was on the warpath with the Government led by his own party and the party high command. After a series of unsuccessful attempts to regain supremacy in the Kerala wing of the Indian National Congress, the dissidents led by him landed up in the bad books of the Congress high command. With the sharp increase in factional meetings held all over Kerala, mostly led by his son K. Muraleedharan, Indian National Congress suspended Muraleedharan from the party.
As a veteran parliamentarian, whose career stretches over five decades, Karunakaran has been elected three times to Rajya Sabha and to Lok Sabha twice. He was a member of Rajya Sabha during 1995-97, 1997–98 and 2004-2005. He has been elected to Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram in 1998 and from Mukundapuram constituency in 1999. Karunakaran served as the Minister for Industries in the Union Cabinet for one year in 1995.
With Muraleedharan being pushed to the verge of political orphanage, Karunakaran left his party and formed a new political outfit with him as the President. Thus, on 1 May 2005, Karunakaran formed a new party in Kerala National Congress (Indira). Later, the new party was renamed to Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran). Later, Karunakaran merged his party with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), despite opposition from many senior leaders like T. M. Jacob who has since left the party. K Karunakaran and his daughter Padmaja returned to their parent party (Indian National Congress) following a spilt . However his son Muraleedharan dissociated himself from his father and continued in NCP.A great Leader who gave a helping hand to the Minorities and supported them.
Sri. K. Karunakaran
Shri. K.Karunakaran, being a stalwart in the political arena, occupies leading role in the contemporary political history of the state of Kerala. Shri. K.Karunakaran was born on July 5, 1918 at Chirackkal in Kannur District to Shri.Thekkedathu Ravunni Marar and Smt. Kannoth Kalyani Amma with birth star “Karthika”, which blessed him with its inherent characteristics of good health and dynamism, and also unstinted support, in plenty, from people. He brings with him a long parliamentary experience spanning over seven decades.
Shri.K.Karunakaran gave up his school education at an early age and started his political career through the Indian National Congress. A staunch patriot, he had zealously participated in the freedom struggle as well as in trade union activities, right from the beginning of his political career, and was arrested and jailed on many occasions. His political life was seldom peaceful. It was full of imminent storms and challenges warranting immediate retrieval. His ability to face and deal issues spontaneously in the best manner , is praise worthy. He rose to the top in politics and has been acclaimed as the senior most Leader of the Indian National Congress because of his studiousness and untiring dynamism.
Shri. Karunakaran was elected to Trichur Municipality way back in 1945, and subsequently to the Cochin Legislative Assembly in 1948 and Travancore –Cochin Legislative Assembly three times, i.e. in 1949, 1952 & 1954. He has been elected to Kerala Legislative Assembly from Mala Assembly Constituency seven times consecutively, i.e. in 1967, 1970, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1987 & 1991.
He was the Chief whip of the Congress Legislature Party in the Travancore –Cochin Legislative Assembly from 1952-1953 and the leader of Congress Legislature Party in the Kerala Legislative Assembly for a very long period from 1967 to 1995. He was elected to 7th Kerala Legislative Assembly simultaneously from Mala and Nemom constituencies in 1982. However he resigned his Nemom seat on 1.6.1982. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 1967 to 1969, 1980 to 1981 and from 1987 to 1991. He is a founder member of Indian delegation to ILO in 1957.
He has served in a number of Committees in the Kerala Legislative Assembly and was the Chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts from 1968 to 1970.He chaired the Committee of Privileges from 1982 to 1986.
Shri. K. Karunakaran has been a member of the Congress Working Committee since 1969 and the Member of Parliamentary Board from 1970 onwards.
Shri.K.Karunakaran is the founder of United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1970. He evinced utmost care in ensuring cordiality, unity and understanding among the constituent parties, and he commanded absolute control and due respect from them.
His closeness to the Nehru family begins from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and culminated and pinnacled during the tenure of Smt. Indira Gandhi and Shri. Rajiv Gandhi. The leading role he played in enthroning Shri. Rajiv Gandhi as the Prime Minister of India within hours after the assassination of Smt. Indira Gandhi is part of the History of India. This opportune action helped to call upon the world that people of India are committed to democracy and are capable of protecting it without any iota of doubt and threat.
Shri. K. Karunakaran could add another feather to his cap by repeating the role of King Maker in finding out a successor to Rajiv Gandhi; but for him it would have been normally delayed and made difficult; or perhaps even changed the destiny of India. Being the senior most leader of Congress, he convened its parliamentary party meeting and got elected the late Shri. P.V. Narasimha Rao as the next Prime Minister of India.
Shri. K. Karunakaran could manage it only because of his prompt intervention, political acumen and invaluable treasure of experience, and above all, the respect, the regard and the reputation he owned in the party and among the Congress Members of Parliament, as well as the eminent leaders of other prominent political parties of India. This envious position he made use of, again, while he successfully managed to ensure majority to the Confidence Motion to Narasimha Rao Ministry. Shri. K. Karunakaran was the Chairman of the committee constituted for amending the Constitution of Indian National Congress. He was also the head of the Committee for revamping the Congress Party.
It was he, who proposed the tangible solution for reservation, at a time, when this sensitive issue rocked the Nation. His ability to prompt proposition of apt panacea to iron out the burning issues and stalemate and to give spontaneous replies to disquieting questions are unparalleled.
Shri. Karunakaran was the Home Minister from 25..09..1971 to 24..03..1977 in the Ministry headed by Shri. C. Achutha Menon. While the emergency was declared in 1975, he took utmost care in administering the state without giving any room for complaint of any excess of the emergency powers and this was recognized by the people of Kerala when they returned the UDF to power with record majority in the ensuing elections of 1977.
Shri.K. Karunakaran has been the Chief Minister of Kerala four times. He took charge as Chief Minister for the first time on 25-3-1977. However he tendered his resignation on 25-4-1977, immediately following certain references by the Kerala High Court in what came to be known as ‘Rajan case’. He took charge as Chief Minister again on December 28, 1981. However, this ministry did not last long.
He resigned on 17th March 1982, following the withdrawal of support by a member of the Kerala Congress (M). Midterm elections to the 7th Kerala Legislative Assembly was held on May 19, 1982. The Ministry with Shri. K.Karunakaran as Chief Minister assumed office on 24th May 1982 and continued till 1987. On June 24, 1991, Shri.K.Karunakaran took charge as Chief Minister of Kerala for the fourth term, and resigned on March 16, 1995, making way for Shri. A.K.Antony to take up the Chief Ministership.
As a veteran Parliamentarian, whose career stretches over five decades, Shri. K. Karunakaran has been elected three times to Rajya Sabha and to Lok Sabha twice. He was a member of Rajya Sabha during 1995-97, 1997-98 and 2004-2005. He has been elected to Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram in 1998 and from Mukundapuram Constituency in 1999. Shri. K. Karunakaran served as the Minister for Industries in the Union Cabinet for one year in 1995.
Widely respected within the country as ‘leader’ and administrator, Shri. K. Karunakaran has contributed much to the development of the state. The Kerala State Film Development Corporation, Nedumbassery Airport, Gosree Project, Guruvayoor Railway Line, Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium and NTPC Kayamkulam are among them.
t was during his Chief Ministership that two districts viz Kasargod and Pathanamthitta were formed. During his tenure as Chief Minister from 1982-87 he retained the portfolio of SC/ST Development Department and this period was considered as golden days for them.
Shri. K. Karunakaran has been a mentor of plethora of leaders of younger generation, irrespective of caste, creed or community. They could fortunately hold prominent position and play vital role in political arena of Kerala & India.
Shri. Karunakaran, a true Gandhian throughout his personal and political life, has been respected and praised by all as an ardent secular leader both in words and deeds.
Smt.KalyanikuttyAmma was his wife and they have 1 son and 1 daughter. The son, Shri. K. Muraleedharan, former KPCC President and former Minister for Electricity is now the President of the Democratic Indira Congress. The daughter, Smt. Padmaja Venugopal was Chairperson of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation.
Shri.K.Karunakaran gave up his school education at an early age and started his political career through the Indian National Congress. A staunch patriot, he had zealously participated in the freedom struggle as well as in trade union activities, right from the beginning of his political career, and was arrested and jailed on many occasions. His political life was seldom peaceful. It was full of imminent storms and challenges warranting immediate retrieval. His ability to face and deal issues spontaneously in the best manner , is praise worthy. He rose to the top in politics and has been acclaimed as the senior most Leader of the Indian National Congress because of his studiousness and untiring dynamism.
Shri. Karunakaran was elected to Trichur Municipality way back in 1945, and subsequently to the Cochin Legislative Assembly in 1948 and Travancore –Cochin Legislative Assembly three times, i.e. in 1949, 1952 & 1954. He has been elected to Kerala Legislative Assembly from Mala Assembly Constituency seven times consecutively, i.e. in 1967, 1970, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1987 & 1991.
He was the Chief whip of the Congress Legislature Party in the Travancore –Cochin Legislative Assembly from 1952-1953 and the leader of Congress Legislature Party in the Kerala Legislative Assembly for a very long period from 1967 to 1995. He was elected to 7th Kerala Legislative Assembly simultaneously from Mala and Nemom constituencies in 1982. However he resigned his Nemom seat on 1.6.1982. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 1967 to 1969, 1980 to 1981 and from 1987 to 1991. He is a founder member of Indian delegation to ILO in 1957.
He has served in a number of Committees in the Kerala Legislative Assembly and was the Chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts from 1968 to 1970.He chaired the Committee of Privileges from 1982 to 1986.
Shri. K. Karunakaran has been a member of the Congress Working Committee since 1969 and the Member of Parliamentary Board from 1970 onwards.
Shri.K.Karunakaran is the founder of United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1970. He evinced utmost care in ensuring cordiality, unity and understanding among the constituent parties, and he commanded absolute control and due respect from them.
His closeness to the Nehru family begins from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and culminated and pinnacled during the tenure of Smt. Indira Gandhi and Shri. Rajiv Gandhi. The leading role he played in enthroning Shri. Rajiv Gandhi as the Prime Minister of India within hours after the assassination of Smt. Indira Gandhi is part of the History of India. This opportune action helped to call upon the world that people of India are committed to democracy and are capable of protecting it without any iota of doubt and threat.
Shri. K. Karunakaran could add another feather to his cap by repeating the role of King Maker in finding out a successor to Rajiv Gandhi; but for him it would have been normally delayed and made difficult; or perhaps even changed the destiny of India. Being the senior most leader of Congress, he convened its parliamentary party meeting and got elected the late Shri. P.V. Narasimha Rao as the next Prime Minister of India.
Shri. K. Karunakaran could manage it only because of his prompt intervention, political acumen and invaluable treasure of experience, and above all, the respect, the regard and the reputation he owned in the party and among the Congress Members of Parliament, as well as the eminent leaders of other prominent political parties of India. This envious position he made use of, again, while he successfully managed to ensure majority to the Confidence Motion to Narasimha Rao Ministry. Shri. K. Karunakaran was the Chairman of the committee constituted for amending the Constitution of Indian National Congress. He was also the head of the Committee for revamping the Congress Party.
It was he, who proposed the tangible solution for reservation, at a time, when this sensitive issue rocked the Nation. His ability to prompt proposition of apt panacea to iron out the burning issues and stalemate and to give spontaneous replies to disquieting questions are unparalleled.
Shri. Karunakaran was the Home Minister from 25..09..1971 to 24..03..1977 in the Ministry headed by Shri. C. Achutha Menon. While the emergency was declared in 1975, he took utmost care in administering the state without giving any room for complaint of any excess of the emergency powers and this was recognized by the people of Kerala when they returned the UDF to power with record majority in the ensuing elections of 1977.
Shri.K. Karunakaran has been the Chief Minister of Kerala four times. He took charge as Chief Minister for the first time on 25-3-1977. However he tendered his resignation on 25-4-1977, immediately following certain references by the Kerala High Court in what came to be known as ‘Rajan case’. He took charge as Chief Minister again on December 28, 1981. However, this ministry did not last long.
He resigned on 17th March 1982, following the withdrawal of support by a member of the Kerala Congress (M). Midterm elections to the 7th Kerala Legislative Assembly was held on May 19, 1982. The Ministry with Shri. K.Karunakaran as Chief Minister assumed office on 24th May 1982 and continued till 1987. On June 24, 1991, Shri.K.Karunakaran took charge as Chief Minister of Kerala for the fourth term, and resigned on March 16, 1995, making way for Shri. A.K.Antony to take up the Chief Ministership.
As a veteran Parliamentarian, whose career stretches over five decades, Shri. K. Karunakaran has been elected three times to Rajya Sabha and to Lok Sabha twice. He was a member of Rajya Sabha during 1995-97, 1997-98 and 2004-2005. He has been elected to Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram in 1998 and from Mukundapuram Constituency in 1999. Shri. K. Karunakaran served as the Minister for Industries in the Union Cabinet for one year in 1995.
Widely respected within the country as ‘leader’ and administrator, Shri. K. Karunakaran has contributed much to the development of the state. The Kerala State Film Development Corporation, Nedumbassery Airport, Gosree Project, Guruvayoor Railway Line, Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium and NTPC Kayamkulam are among them.
t was during his Chief Ministership that two districts viz Kasargod and Pathanamthitta were formed. During his tenure as Chief Minister from 1982-87 he retained the portfolio of SC/ST Development Department and this period was considered as golden days for them.
Shri. K. Karunakaran has been a mentor of plethora of leaders of younger generation, irrespective of caste, creed or community. They could fortunately hold prominent position and play vital role in political arena of Kerala & India.
Shri. Karunakaran, a true Gandhian throughout his personal and political life, has been respected and praised by all as an ardent secular leader both in words and deeds.
Smt.KalyanikuttyAmma was his wife and they have 1 son and 1 daughter. The son, Shri. K. Muraleedharan, former KPCC President and former Minister for Electricity is now the President of the Democratic Indira Congress. The daughter, Smt. Padmaja Venugopal was Chairperson of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation.
Life and career of Narasimha Rao's 'mentor' and more
Kannoth Karunakaran's colourful career has spanned over seven decades, bringing in trouble and change into India's oldest political party
Kannoth Karunakaran, the most colourful politician of Kerala, was the country’s last surviving link between the old and new Indian National Congress. While his followers adored him, Karunakaran was intensely hated by detractors and political opponents.
Politics, more than power, was a passion for him. Nobody in the late 60s could have believed that a legislative party leader of a depleted Indian National Congress, with just eight members in the assembly, could rise to become the King and King maker of Kerala and Indian politics.
He was the founding father of the United Democratic Front, comprising more than a dozen regional parties and caste outfits. Management experts were flabbergasted when Karunakaran cobbled up an alliance which had parties as different as CPI, RSP, the Church, promoted Kerala Congresses, Muslim League, NDP of the Nairs and SRP of Eezhavas.
The UDF pulverized the CPM-led Left Democratic Front in the elections held in 1971 and 1977. Perhaps, the biggest moment in his life was when he led the UDF towards an unprecedented victory in the 1977 General Elections.
Even as the Congress bit the dust every else in the country as a fallout of the Emergency in 1977, the party won 114 seats in the assembly and made a clean sweep by winning all the 20 parliamentary seats. E.M.S Namboodirippadu, the CPM’s chief ministerial candidate, only managed to scraped through at Pattambi with just 2,000 votes in the election and decided not to contest again!
But controversies have always followed Karunakaran like a shadow.
Within weeks of his swearing-in as chief minister of Kerala, he had to resign because of observations by the Kerala High Court in the infamous Rajan case. Rajan, a student of Regional Engineering College, Kozhikode, was arrested by the state Crime Branch which suspected him of having leanings with the Naxalite movement.
Eeachara Warrior, Rajan’s father, approached the High Court with a habeas corpus petition and the Court ruled that Karunakaran, as home minister during the Emergency, suppressed facts about Rajan’s whereabouts though he was aware that the student had died following third-degree measures of the police.
Karunakaran had to wait till the 1982 elections to win back the chief minister’s gaadi. He always cast his lots with the Nehru-Gandhi family, whenever there were splits in the Congress. No wonder then, he was considered Man Friday for both Indira and Rajiv.
And he always made it a point to promote young party workers, much to the chagrin of seniors like A.K. Antony, Vayalar Ravi and Oommen Chandi.
That was the root cause of groupism in Congress in the state. Present day leaders like Ramesh Chennithala, K. Sudhakaran, G. Karthikleyan, M.I. Shanawaz are all protégés promoted by the Leader.
It is an open secret that Karunakaran, popularly known as ‘Leader’ played the crucial role in making P.V. Narasimha Rao the Prime Minister after the 1991 election.
It is another matter that Leader had to quit as chief minister in 1995 following the notorious ISRO spy scandal with Rao washing his hands off his ‘mentor’.
Ideology was never the forte of this modern-day Chanakya, who was just a matriculate with diploma in caricaturing.
For him, all that mattered was power politics. However, people of Kerala remain indebted to this devotee of Lord Guruvayurappa, at least in one aspect.
He gave a ‘blank check’ to the state police to get rid of Maoists and Naxalites and the result is there for all to see. But his nemesis was a failure to see the writing on the wall that the feudal style of politics, which he practiced, had been consigned to history's dust bin
His own protégés turned against him when Karunakaran tried to hardsell his two children to the Kerala electorate.
"You can love or hate Karunakaran. But you can never ignore him,” said P Rajan, veteran journalist, who has followed Karunakaran's political journey for over five decades.
That could, in all probability, be an apt epitaph for the four-time chief minister
Kannoth Karunakaran, the most colourful politician of Kerala, was the country’s last surviving link between the old and new Indian National Congress. While his followers adored him, Karunakaran was intensely hated by detractors and political opponents.
Politics, more than power, was a passion for him. Nobody in the late 60s could have believed that a legislative party leader of a depleted Indian National Congress, with just eight members in the assembly, could rise to become the King and King maker of Kerala and Indian politics.
He was the founding father of the United Democratic Front, comprising more than a dozen regional parties and caste outfits. Management experts were flabbergasted when Karunakaran cobbled up an alliance which had parties as different as CPI, RSP, the Church, promoted Kerala Congresses, Muslim League, NDP of the Nairs and SRP of Eezhavas.
The UDF pulverized the CPM-led Left Democratic Front in the elections held in 1971 and 1977. Perhaps, the biggest moment in his life was when he led the UDF towards an unprecedented victory in the 1977 General Elections.
Even as the Congress bit the dust every else in the country as a fallout of the Emergency in 1977, the party won 114 seats in the assembly and made a clean sweep by winning all the 20 parliamentary seats. E.M.S Namboodirippadu, the CPM’s chief ministerial candidate, only managed to scraped through at Pattambi with just 2,000 votes in the election and decided not to contest again!
But controversies have always followed Karunakaran like a shadow.
Within weeks of his swearing-in as chief minister of Kerala, he had to resign because of observations by the Kerala High Court in the infamous Rajan case. Rajan, a student of Regional Engineering College, Kozhikode, was arrested by the state Crime Branch which suspected him of having leanings with the Naxalite movement.
Eeachara Warrior, Rajan’s father, approached the High Court with a habeas corpus petition and the Court ruled that Karunakaran, as home minister during the Emergency, suppressed facts about Rajan’s whereabouts though he was aware that the student had died following third-degree measures of the police.
Karunakaran had to wait till the 1982 elections to win back the chief minister’s gaadi. He always cast his lots with the Nehru-Gandhi family, whenever there were splits in the Congress. No wonder then, he was considered Man Friday for both Indira and Rajiv.
And he always made it a point to promote young party workers, much to the chagrin of seniors like A.K. Antony, Vayalar Ravi and Oommen Chandi.
That was the root cause of groupism in Congress in the state. Present day leaders like Ramesh Chennithala, K. Sudhakaran, G. Karthikleyan, M.I. Shanawaz are all protégés promoted by the Leader.
It is an open secret that Karunakaran, popularly known as ‘Leader’ played the crucial role in making P.V. Narasimha Rao the Prime Minister after the 1991 election.
It is another matter that Leader had to quit as chief minister in 1995 following the notorious ISRO spy scandal with Rao washing his hands off his ‘mentor’.
Ideology was never the forte of this modern-day Chanakya, who was just a matriculate with diploma in caricaturing.
For him, all that mattered was power politics. However, people of Kerala remain indebted to this devotee of Lord Guruvayurappa, at least in one aspect.
He gave a ‘blank check’ to the state police to get rid of Maoists and Naxalites and the result is there for all to see. But his nemesis was a failure to see the writing on the wall that the feudal style of politics, which he practiced, had been consigned to history's dust bin
His own protégés turned against him when Karunakaran tried to hardsell his two children to the Kerala electorate.
"You can love or hate Karunakaran. But you can never ignore him,” said P Rajan, veteran journalist, who has followed Karunakaran's political journey for over five decades.
That could, in all probability, be an apt epitaph for the four-time chief minister
An architect of bipolar coalition regime
History of Kerala politics from 1970 cannot be written without Karunakaran
A political era has come to an end with the death of the veteran Congress leader, K. Karunakaran, but he leaves behind an indelible political legacy.
A bipolar coalition grouped into the Communist and anti-Communist formations, a predominant role for minority communities in Kerala politics, a few novel and unforgettable development initiatives and many more are his enduring contributions. The history of Kerala politics from 1970 cannot be written without Mr. Karunakaran as one of the central characters. In the late 1960s, he stitched up a coalition mobilising parties of divergent ideologies on an anti-Marxist platform, with the Communist Party of India in the front. With just nine MLAs, he brought the Congress back into political power in 1971 riding on the new coalition experiment.
Clout in national politics
An intuitive politician, Mr. Karunakaran revalidated Kerala's bipolar coalition politics in 1982 by regrouping politics around the Left and anti-Left axis, which has stood the test of time. There is no other Kerala leader who wielded as much clout in national politics as he had. But, in a late twist to the political script, the hardcore anti-Communist nearly dismantled the edifice he had built when he formed the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) in an attempt to get into the Left camp.
This is, perhaps, the only failed experiment in his rather long political career that made him an undisputed Congress leader, four-time Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition and kingmaker. The seniormost Congress leader was quick to realise his folly and he returned to the Congress, but the “Bhishmacharya” of Kerala politics had to lie on a bed of political arrows till his death.
Kannoth Karunakaran Marar, born to Kannoth Ramunni Marar and Kannoth Kalyani Marasiyar in Kannur, studied in Raja's High School, Thrissur, and did his diploma in design, geometry and painting in the College of Arts, Thrissur.
The shrewd Karunakaran discovered quite early in his life that his future was in politics. Beginning his career as a political worker in the Cochin Rajya Praja Mandalam, he entered electoral politics as a member of the Trichur Municipal Council (1945-47). He was the founding member of the Indian National Trade Union Congress in Kerala. Mr. Karunakaran was elected to the Assembly eight times between 1965 and 1995. Mala was his favourite constituency. Though he contested from both Nemom and Mala Assembly seats in 1982, he chose to retain his Mala seat.
Mr. Karunakaran was Home Minister in the Achutha Menon Ministry (1971-77). When the entire nation voted against the Congress in the post-Emergency elections in 1977, Kerala was the only State that returned a Congress-led government, with Mr. Karunakaran donning the mantle of Chief Minister.
However, the euphoria of winning 111 seats in the Assembly ended quickly when he had to resign as Chief Minister within a month following court references in the Rajan case that rocked the State. He sprang back into the reckoning after the courts cleared him of the charges, but the Rajan case was a low phase in his political career that he always wanted to forget.
Known as a kingmaker, Mr. Karunakaran had an important role in installing P.V. Narasimha Rao as Prime Minister in 1991 after the Congress was thrown into uncertainty following the assassination of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, during the election campaign. He was made a Rajya Sabha member when his innings as Chief Minister came to an abrupt end in 1995. He became Industries Minister in the Rao Cabinet.
Mr. Karunakaran always found himself on the winning side during both the 1969 and 1978 splits in the Congress. He drew his political strength from his long-lasting loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family. A new phase in this relationship began in 1969, when Mr. Karunakaran stood steadfastly with Indira Gandhi, and lasted till 2006 when he chose to form his own party following differences with the present Congress president, Sonia Gandhi. The torn ties were patched up only late in 2007 with his return to the Congress in a no-win situation.
Mr. Karunakaran seemed to be doing everything right until his burning ambition to anoint his son, K. Muraleedharan, as his successor blurred his amazing political vision. He misread the undercurrents of events while navigating volatile factional politics. He used his clout to create a political passage for his son, making him MP first and later Pradesh Congress Committee president. Till the end of his life, Mr. Karunakaran sought to cut a path for his son's return to the Congress, acknowledging in a way that there was no political scope outside bipolar coalitions.
Mr. Karunakaran always believed that factional politics provided strength to the Congress and was its unabashed practitioner. He was loved by his supporters, who endearingly called him “Leader,” hated by his foes and held in high esteem by his peers.
A Congressman till the end
When all is said and done, Mr. Karunakaran remained a Congressman till the end. Never did he think of jettisoning his left-of-centre and secular positions. At a time when Congress leaders in other States chose to team up with the Bharatiya Janata Party once they quit the party, Mr. Karunakaran did not dilute his secular stand even when he was politically cornered. This fact alone makes his political legacy more valuable for the Congress leadership in the State to uphold.
A political era has come to an end with the death of the veteran Congress leader, K. Karunakaran, but he leaves behind an indelible political legacy.
A bipolar coalition grouped into the Communist and anti-Communist formations, a predominant role for minority communities in Kerala politics, a few novel and unforgettable development initiatives and many more are his enduring contributions. The history of Kerala politics from 1970 cannot be written without Mr. Karunakaran as one of the central characters. In the late 1960s, he stitched up a coalition mobilising parties of divergent ideologies on an anti-Marxist platform, with the Communist Party of India in the front. With just nine MLAs, he brought the Congress back into political power in 1971 riding on the new coalition experiment.
Clout in national politics
An intuitive politician, Mr. Karunakaran revalidated Kerala's bipolar coalition politics in 1982 by regrouping politics around the Left and anti-Left axis, which has stood the test of time. There is no other Kerala leader who wielded as much clout in national politics as he had. But, in a late twist to the political script, the hardcore anti-Communist nearly dismantled the edifice he had built when he formed the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) in an attempt to get into the Left camp.
This is, perhaps, the only failed experiment in his rather long political career that made him an undisputed Congress leader, four-time Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition and kingmaker. The seniormost Congress leader was quick to realise his folly and he returned to the Congress, but the “Bhishmacharya” of Kerala politics had to lie on a bed of political arrows till his death.
Kannoth Karunakaran Marar, born to Kannoth Ramunni Marar and Kannoth Kalyani Marasiyar in Kannur, studied in Raja's High School, Thrissur, and did his diploma in design, geometry and painting in the College of Arts, Thrissur.
The shrewd Karunakaran discovered quite early in his life that his future was in politics. Beginning his career as a political worker in the Cochin Rajya Praja Mandalam, he entered electoral politics as a member of the Trichur Municipal Council (1945-47). He was the founding member of the Indian National Trade Union Congress in Kerala. Mr. Karunakaran was elected to the Assembly eight times between 1965 and 1995. Mala was his favourite constituency. Though he contested from both Nemom and Mala Assembly seats in 1982, he chose to retain his Mala seat.
Mr. Karunakaran was Home Minister in the Achutha Menon Ministry (1971-77). When the entire nation voted against the Congress in the post-Emergency elections in 1977, Kerala was the only State that returned a Congress-led government, with Mr. Karunakaran donning the mantle of Chief Minister.
However, the euphoria of winning 111 seats in the Assembly ended quickly when he had to resign as Chief Minister within a month following court references in the Rajan case that rocked the State. He sprang back into the reckoning after the courts cleared him of the charges, but the Rajan case was a low phase in his political career that he always wanted to forget.
Known as a kingmaker, Mr. Karunakaran had an important role in installing P.V. Narasimha Rao as Prime Minister in 1991 after the Congress was thrown into uncertainty following the assassination of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, during the election campaign. He was made a Rajya Sabha member when his innings as Chief Minister came to an abrupt end in 1995. He became Industries Minister in the Rao Cabinet.
Mr. Karunakaran always found himself on the winning side during both the 1969 and 1978 splits in the Congress. He drew his political strength from his long-lasting loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family. A new phase in this relationship began in 1969, when Mr. Karunakaran stood steadfastly with Indira Gandhi, and lasted till 2006 when he chose to form his own party following differences with the present Congress president, Sonia Gandhi. The torn ties were patched up only late in 2007 with his return to the Congress in a no-win situation.
Mr. Karunakaran seemed to be doing everything right until his burning ambition to anoint his son, K. Muraleedharan, as his successor blurred his amazing political vision. He misread the undercurrents of events while navigating volatile factional politics. He used his clout to create a political passage for his son, making him MP first and later Pradesh Congress Committee president. Till the end of his life, Mr. Karunakaran sought to cut a path for his son's return to the Congress, acknowledging in a way that there was no political scope outside bipolar coalitions.
Mr. Karunakaran always believed that factional politics provided strength to the Congress and was its unabashed practitioner. He was loved by his supporters, who endearingly called him “Leader,” hated by his foes and held in high esteem by his peers.
A Congressman till the end
When all is said and done, Mr. Karunakaran remained a Congressman till the end. Never did he think of jettisoning his left-of-centre and secular positions. At a time when Congress leaders in other States chose to team up with the Bharatiya Janata Party once they quit the party, Mr. Karunakaran did not dilute his secular stand even when he was politically cornered. This fact alone makes his political legacy more valuable for the Congress leadership in the State to uphold.
Karunakaran had a spiritual bond with Sabarimala
Former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran offering prayers at the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala on Christmas day in 1998.
An Ayyappa devotee, the departed Congress leader K. Karunakaran had a strong spiritual bond with Sabarimala.
It was Karunakaran who had sown the seeds of development at Sabarimala three decades ago. He used to unfailingly undertake the Sabarimala pilgrimage every year till 1992. But he could not continue it for long following a major road accident.
Karunakaran's last pilgrimage to Sabarimala was on Christmas day in 1998. He had to use the dolly service between Pampa and the Sannidhanam reluctantly owing to ill health.
“I am against man carrying man on his shoulders to the holy hillock … ,” he had said.
Karunakaran's unstinting devotion to Ayyappa came to the fore when he reached the temple ‘Sopanam' with the ‘Irumudikkettu' (sacred bundle) on the head later. Cut off from the surroundings, he chanted the ‘Ayyappa Saranom' mantra when he came face to the face with the deity. The leader was in divine ecstasy.
His son, K. Muraleedharan, used to carry the leader's ‘Irumudikkettu' too to Sabarimala during every pilgrim season since 1999. But Mr. Muraleedharan could not carry the sacred bundle of his ailing father during his recent pilgrimage to Sabarimala. But he had carried a ghee-filled coconut in the name of his father this time too.
Akhila Ayyappa Seva Sanghom national vice-president D. Vijayakumar, who had been a follower of Karunakaran, said it was the leader who had initiated the Sabarimala road development project, besides allowing forest land to be used as vehicle parking lots at Pampa Hill-Top and a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation depot at Pampa.
Though Karunakaran had made arrangements for taking former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to Sabarimala four decades ago and had even set up a helipad near the Sannidhanam as part of it, he had to drop the plan owing to opposition from various Hindu organisations.
An Ayyappa devotee, the departed Congress leader K. Karunakaran had a strong spiritual bond with Sabarimala.
It was Karunakaran who had sown the seeds of development at Sabarimala three decades ago. He used to unfailingly undertake the Sabarimala pilgrimage every year till 1992. But he could not continue it for long following a major road accident.
Karunakaran's last pilgrimage to Sabarimala was on Christmas day in 1998. He had to use the dolly service between Pampa and the Sannidhanam reluctantly owing to ill health.
“I am against man carrying man on his shoulders to the holy hillock … ,” he had said.
Karunakaran's unstinting devotion to Ayyappa came to the fore when he reached the temple ‘Sopanam' with the ‘Irumudikkettu' (sacred bundle) on the head later. Cut off from the surroundings, he chanted the ‘Ayyappa Saranom' mantra when he came face to the face with the deity. The leader was in divine ecstasy.
His son, K. Muraleedharan, used to carry the leader's ‘Irumudikkettu' too to Sabarimala during every pilgrim season since 1999. But Mr. Muraleedharan could not carry the sacred bundle of his ailing father during his recent pilgrimage to Sabarimala. But he had carried a ghee-filled coconut in the name of his father this time too.
Akhila Ayyappa Seva Sanghom national vice-president D. Vijayakumar, who had been a follower of Karunakaran, said it was the leader who had initiated the Sabarimala road development project, besides allowing forest land to be used as vehicle parking lots at Pampa Hill-Top and a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation depot at Pampa.
Though Karunakaran had made arrangements for taking former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to Sabarimala four decades ago and had even set up a helipad near the Sannidhanam as part of it, he had to drop the plan owing to opposition from various Hindu organisations.
An able administrator
K Karunakaran was an able administrator and a quick and decisive decision-maker, an aspect which has been unanimously accepted and acknowledged by every one. Kerala owes a lot to him for putting it on a development mode through a plethora of projects, many of them innovative.
The list of developmental projects he initiated is unending – The Tecknopark, the state’s flagship IT promoter, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, the Kochi International Airport, the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi, and Pariyaram Medical College are some of the development land marks. He was instrumental in initiating Kerala into the era of electronics, through the flagship company Keltron, promoting its initiatives to bring television to the State.
He was willing to experiment with various development models. It was under his tenure as Chief Minister during 1991-95 period that Technopark, the country’s first electronics technology park was established. Even though the foundational stone for the park was laid at the fag end of the previous LDF regime under Nayanar, Karunakaran extended total support to the project, which was commissioned ahead of schedule. At the heights of factional fights, he took over the RG-CDEST, then a non-governmental organisation headed by G Karthikeyan, a protégé who led a revolt against him along with Ramesh Chennithala, and converted into an institution fostering biotechnology research. Later this came to be known as Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology. He used his clout to whittle down the Navy’s objection to the Nedumbassery Airport, reckoned as the first major airport to be constructed under State and private initiative.
He was also the first to promote the concept of self-financing institutions in the Government sector to foster higher education. His move to open up the professional education to the private sector met with stiff opposition, but later it came to be adopted as a major development programme.
During his tenure as Chief Minister between 1982 and 1987, he supported reforms in the Higher Secondary education section by promoting the Pre-degree board, which too met with considerable opposition.
Even while maintaining a Left of Centre political position, he was farsighted enough to understand the changing contours of the country’s economic policy perspectives and fine tune them to suit the State’s interests and change his own political positions.
The list of developmental projects he initiated is unending – The Tecknopark, the state’s flagship IT promoter, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, the Kochi International Airport, the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi, and Pariyaram Medical College are some of the development land marks. He was instrumental in initiating Kerala into the era of electronics, through the flagship company Keltron, promoting its initiatives to bring television to the State.
He was willing to experiment with various development models. It was under his tenure as Chief Minister during 1991-95 period that Technopark, the country’s first electronics technology park was established. Even though the foundational stone for the park was laid at the fag end of the previous LDF regime under Nayanar, Karunakaran extended total support to the project, which was commissioned ahead of schedule. At the heights of factional fights, he took over the RG-CDEST, then a non-governmental organisation headed by G Karthikeyan, a protégé who led a revolt against him along with Ramesh Chennithala, and converted into an institution fostering biotechnology research. Later this came to be known as Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology. He used his clout to whittle down the Navy’s objection to the Nedumbassery Airport, reckoned as the first major airport to be constructed under State and private initiative.
He was also the first to promote the concept of self-financing institutions in the Government sector to foster higher education. His move to open up the professional education to the private sector met with stiff opposition, but later it came to be adopted as a major development programme.
During his tenure as Chief Minister between 1982 and 1987, he supported reforms in the Higher Secondary education section by promoting the Pre-degree board, which too met with considerable opposition.
Even while maintaining a Left of Centre political position, he was farsighted enough to understand the changing contours of the country’s economic policy perspectives and fine tune them to suit the State’s interests and change his own political positions.
Karunakaran leaves behind sterling political legacy
It was at a public rally in March 1995 in Thiruvananthapuram that K. Karunakaran made the famous one-liner that described the murky world of politics. 'I was stabbed from the front and from behind.'
With the soreness of being forced out of his cherished chief minister's chair as a fallout of the 'ISRO spy case', Karunakaran's ire was directed at an unusual consolidation of many of his Congress party colleagues and constituents of the United Democratic Front (UDF) against his obstinate defence of IG of Police, Ramon Srivastava, who was alleged to have had a role in the spy case, which was later rejected by a CBI investigation.
But by then, Karunakaran had irrecoverably lost his chair, probably the first such instance when a chief minister lost his chair for backing a loyalist. Two things emerged from this episode: (a) Karunakaran always stood by his loyalists and (b) loyalty is an unreliable commodity in the Congress.
These fundamentals plainly describe the political legacy of Karunakaran and Congress in Kerala.
For a leader who salvaged the desolate party from wilderness during the political volatility of 1960s and installed it in power in a largely 'Communist' state, perhaps the greatest challenge he could have ever faced was when he was forced to leave the Congress and form his own party in 2005.
The spy case and dethronement were just a momentary phase in his political slide, the origins of which could be traced to the early 1990s when group politics in Kerala's Congress derived unprecedented belligerence and gained identities.
As his rival group led by A.K. Antony and Oommen Chandy struggled to resist the dominant leader's autocratic sway over the party, the vast majority of the partymen and leaders heavily consolidated in favour of Karunakaran.
That the leader had total control of the party was best embodied by the identity of his faction, known as the 'I' group rather than as 'K' like the 'A' for the Antony faction.
The twist in the tale started with a serious road accident outside Thiruvananthapuram in 1993 which led of his prolonged indisposition. While the leader recuperated, a realignment of forces happened as a section of his loyalists resisted efforts by a clique to promote his son, K. Muraleedharan, as the faction's leader.
The exodus of core loyalists was rapid then on, which intensified after he was dethroned from power. However, even when he was losing core supporters among the leadership rung, a dedicated cadre continued to hold allegiance to the leader (and partly to his son) which he sustained till his last days.
A key trait of his during such political turbulence was his ability to cultivate a new generation of leaders even when his trusted lieutenants ditched him.
This was best demonstrated at the launch of his new party, which had a frontline leadership of third and fourth rung Youth Congress leaders who could barely aspire to rise in the faction-ridden Congress, where top leaderships never retired from positions of power.
At least three generations of Kerala's Congress leaders owed their mentoring to Karunakaran; many of them ditched him at some point or other. There were, however, notable exceptions like Kodoth Govindan Nair, who died early this week, and Pithambara Kurup, who remained loyal till his last breath.
There are very few Indian politicians whose influence spread across caste, religion and ideology. Unlike many national leaders, Karunakaran had no specific caste or religious leanings. Yet, he played the best of communal balancing among various religious and casteist interests.
Even at a time when the national leadership desisted company of parties with communal links, Karunakaran stitched together the UDF with a perfect integration of the Muslim League and the pro-Christian Kerala Congress.
A devout worshipper of Lord Krishna, his dedication to the Guruvayur deity endeared him to the Hindu right, which had tactically backed the UDF at the hustings during his reigns.
A perennial and indomitable nightmare for the Marxists, Karunakaran was the roadblock which impeded Kerala from going the Bengal way. He was revered and dreaded alike by the Leftists.
Interestingly, the first coalition that he created had the Communist Party of India (CPI) as a lead partner. Years later, Karunakaran again aligned with the communists in 2005-06 and facilitated many a major Left victories, though the Left Front refused to adopt him as an ally, thus causing his political bankruptcy and forcing his return to the Congress.
For a leader whose political maneuverings gained him sobriquets like 'Chanakyan' and 'Bheeshmacharyan', the last years were of political blunders and miscalculations.
Once out of power, the leader never regained full control. Though he managed to elevate his son to the state unit's presidency, exemplary subversion by his rivals and his own impulsive decisions caused disasters for K. Muraleedharan, who but managed to inherit his father's legacy and a chunk of the cadre's support.
Karunakaran leaves behind not just a sterling political legacy, but also an unmatched era of inimitable and determined governance. No Kerala chief minister brought development and prosperity to the state as he could. Many development landmarks of the state today, including the Nedumbassery airport, Technopark and Kaloor international stadium, owe it to the 'Leader', whose panache for instant decisions, without fear of consequences, made him one of the best administrators in recent history.
Despite black spots like the Rajan and Varghese cases, Karunakaran's deft handling of Naxalism in 1970s with minimal collateral is unrivalled in India's anti-Naxal campaign record. Interestingly, as the case with such vibrant leaders, charges of corruption and nepotism refused to leave the leader till his last.
As the Congress faces turbulence amid scandals and scams, it could miss the political skills and adroitness of the 'Leader'. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and former protege, Ramesh Chennithala, rightly summed it up: the Leader's demise is the end of an era - both for the Congress and Kerala.
With the soreness of being forced out of his cherished chief minister's chair as a fallout of the 'ISRO spy case', Karunakaran's ire was directed at an unusual consolidation of many of his Congress party colleagues and constituents of the United Democratic Front (UDF) against his obstinate defence of IG of Police, Ramon Srivastava, who was alleged to have had a role in the spy case, which was later rejected by a CBI investigation.
But by then, Karunakaran had irrecoverably lost his chair, probably the first such instance when a chief minister lost his chair for backing a loyalist. Two things emerged from this episode: (a) Karunakaran always stood by his loyalists and (b) loyalty is an unreliable commodity in the Congress.
These fundamentals plainly describe the political legacy of Karunakaran and Congress in Kerala.
For a leader who salvaged the desolate party from wilderness during the political volatility of 1960s and installed it in power in a largely 'Communist' state, perhaps the greatest challenge he could have ever faced was when he was forced to leave the Congress and form his own party in 2005.
The spy case and dethronement were just a momentary phase in his political slide, the origins of which could be traced to the early 1990s when group politics in Kerala's Congress derived unprecedented belligerence and gained identities.
As his rival group led by A.K. Antony and Oommen Chandy struggled to resist the dominant leader's autocratic sway over the party, the vast majority of the partymen and leaders heavily consolidated in favour of Karunakaran.
That the leader had total control of the party was best embodied by the identity of his faction, known as the 'I' group rather than as 'K' like the 'A' for the Antony faction.
The twist in the tale started with a serious road accident outside Thiruvananthapuram in 1993 which led of his prolonged indisposition. While the leader recuperated, a realignment of forces happened as a section of his loyalists resisted efforts by a clique to promote his son, K. Muraleedharan, as the faction's leader.
The exodus of core loyalists was rapid then on, which intensified after he was dethroned from power. However, even when he was losing core supporters among the leadership rung, a dedicated cadre continued to hold allegiance to the leader (and partly to his son) which he sustained till his last days.
A key trait of his during such political turbulence was his ability to cultivate a new generation of leaders even when his trusted lieutenants ditched him.
This was best demonstrated at the launch of his new party, which had a frontline leadership of third and fourth rung Youth Congress leaders who could barely aspire to rise in the faction-ridden Congress, where top leaderships never retired from positions of power.
At least three generations of Kerala's Congress leaders owed their mentoring to Karunakaran; many of them ditched him at some point or other. There were, however, notable exceptions like Kodoth Govindan Nair, who died early this week, and Pithambara Kurup, who remained loyal till his last breath.
There are very few Indian politicians whose influence spread across caste, religion and ideology. Unlike many national leaders, Karunakaran had no specific caste or religious leanings. Yet, he played the best of communal balancing among various religious and casteist interests.
Even at a time when the national leadership desisted company of parties with communal links, Karunakaran stitched together the UDF with a perfect integration of the Muslim League and the pro-Christian Kerala Congress.
A devout worshipper of Lord Krishna, his dedication to the Guruvayur deity endeared him to the Hindu right, which had tactically backed the UDF at the hustings during his reigns.
A perennial and indomitable nightmare for the Marxists, Karunakaran was the roadblock which impeded Kerala from going the Bengal way. He was revered and dreaded alike by the Leftists.
Interestingly, the first coalition that he created had the Communist Party of India (CPI) as a lead partner. Years later, Karunakaran again aligned with the communists in 2005-06 and facilitated many a major Left victories, though the Left Front refused to adopt him as an ally, thus causing his political bankruptcy and forcing his return to the Congress.
For a leader whose political maneuverings gained him sobriquets like 'Chanakyan' and 'Bheeshmacharyan', the last years were of political blunders and miscalculations.
Once out of power, the leader never regained full control. Though he managed to elevate his son to the state unit's presidency, exemplary subversion by his rivals and his own impulsive decisions caused disasters for K. Muraleedharan, who but managed to inherit his father's legacy and a chunk of the cadre's support.
Karunakaran leaves behind not just a sterling political legacy, but also an unmatched era of inimitable and determined governance. No Kerala chief minister brought development and prosperity to the state as he could. Many development landmarks of the state today, including the Nedumbassery airport, Technopark and Kaloor international stadium, owe it to the 'Leader', whose panache for instant decisions, without fear of consequences, made him one of the best administrators in recent history.
Despite black spots like the Rajan and Varghese cases, Karunakaran's deft handling of Naxalism in 1970s with minimal collateral is unrivalled in India's anti-Naxal campaign record. Interestingly, as the case with such vibrant leaders, charges of corruption and nepotism refused to leave the leader till his last.
As the Congress faces turbulence amid scandals and scams, it could miss the political skills and adroitness of the 'Leader'. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and former protege, Ramesh Chennithala, rightly summed it up: the Leader's demise is the end of an era - both for the Congress and Kerala.
Centre of non-Marxist Kerala politics for 40 yrs
K Karunakaran rose to political prominence in the 1960s making the impossible possible. He pulled down a Communist-led coalition government that had swept the 1967 assembly elections and with the deftness of a magician, cobbled up an alternative front that could grab power by quietly breaking up the ruling alliance.
From being the leader of the opposition with only a handful of MLAs, the Congress leader became deputy chief minister and home minister under a CPI chief minister, and in later years headed government after government. For close to four decades, the non-Marxist politics in Kerala, if not the state politics itself, revolved largely around him.
The developments also made Karunakaran a close confidant and loyalist of the central party leadership — the Nehru household rather — with which he stood through thick and thin. The only aberration was his brief exit from the party, on his own volition, initially to form the Democratic Indira Congress (DIC) and later to join the Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar. Karunakaran returned to Congress within a short span.
Karunakaran was one of the best practitioners of the essentially all-encompassing Congress ethos. The Congress-led alliance in the state, the UDF which he had fashioned, represented a broad spectrum across the religious and communal divide — carrying with it Hindus, backward communities, dalits, Christians and Muslims in a happy embrace.
Simultaneously, he also had to face charges of communal appeasement and pitting one community against another.
Karunakaran's high point was in the early 1990s when he was CM and late P V Narasimha Rao was Prime Minister. He was Rao's closest adviser.
''It was a unique period in the political history of independent India when a CM had central ministers waiting for his appointment whenever he was in Delhi. It was Karuna-karan's tireless efforts and clever strategies that saw the Rao government succeed two no-trust votes after falling short of numbers. He must have spoken to 3,000 to 4,000 leaders within a span of three to four days preceding the no-trust vote,'' recalls K S Premachandra Kurup, a former aide and retired civil servant. ''No Congress leader was close to late Indira and Rajiv Gandhi as Karunakaran then,'' he added.
People of Kerala remember Karunakaran more for his decisive interventions in shaping the political, economic and social framework of the state. But for his determination, the international airport at Nedumbassery near Kochi would not have become a reality, considering the challenges it had to face, both economically and administratively.
There are, however, skeptics who feel that Karunakaran did not fully deploy his clout for the development of the state.
TI
From being the leader of the opposition with only a handful of MLAs, the Congress leader became deputy chief minister and home minister under a CPI chief minister, and in later years headed government after government. For close to four decades, the non-Marxist politics in Kerala, if not the state politics itself, revolved largely around him.
The developments also made Karunakaran a close confidant and loyalist of the central party leadership — the Nehru household rather — with which he stood through thick and thin. The only aberration was his brief exit from the party, on his own volition, initially to form the Democratic Indira Congress (DIC) and later to join the Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar. Karunakaran returned to Congress within a short span.
Karunakaran was one of the best practitioners of the essentially all-encompassing Congress ethos. The Congress-led alliance in the state, the UDF which he had fashioned, represented a broad spectrum across the religious and communal divide — carrying with it Hindus, backward communities, dalits, Christians and Muslims in a happy embrace.
Simultaneously, he also had to face charges of communal appeasement and pitting one community against another.
Karunakaran's high point was in the early 1990s when he was CM and late P V Narasimha Rao was Prime Minister. He was Rao's closest adviser.
''It was a unique period in the political history of independent India when a CM had central ministers waiting for his appointment whenever he was in Delhi. It was Karuna-karan's tireless efforts and clever strategies that saw the Rao government succeed two no-trust votes after falling short of numbers. He must have spoken to 3,000 to 4,000 leaders within a span of three to four days preceding the no-trust vote,'' recalls K S Premachandra Kurup, a former aide and retired civil servant. ''No Congress leader was close to late Indira and Rajiv Gandhi as Karunakaran then,'' he added.
People of Kerala remember Karunakaran more for his decisive interventions in shaping the political, economic and social framework of the state. But for his determination, the international airport at Nedumbassery near Kochi would not have become a reality, considering the challenges it had to face, both economically and administratively.
There are, however, skeptics who feel that Karunakaran did not fully deploy his clout for the development of the state.
TI
PM to pay homage to Karunakaran in Thrissur
December 25, 2010
Security was tightened as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was expected to arrive in Thrissur on Saturday afternoon to pay homage to four-time Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran who died at the age of 92 two days ago. Manmohan Singh is to arrive to the city at around 2 pm as opposed to the earlier 11 am, Congress leaders said in Thrissur.
"He was supposed to come around 11 a.m but the programme has been delayed to around 2 p.m.. He will arrive on a special aircraft at Kochi. From there, he will travel by helicopter to a place near here and would then drive down," a Congress source said.
The Special Protection Group (SPG) has already taken over the Town Hall near here where Karunakaran's body is placed.
The carriage carrying the Congress veteran's body arrived here from Thiruvananthapuram at 8 a.m., delayed by over 10 hours as huge crowds gathered even well past midnight on the roads to have a glimpse of the leader.
The cremation is expected to take place at his home near here after 4 p.m.
Karunakaran's condition deteriorated last week and he was put on the ventilator. His condition improved in a few days but he suffered a stroke Wednesday. He died at 5.30 pm on Thursday. He is survived by his politician son K. Muraleedharan and daughter Padmaja Venugopal.
Security was tightened as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was expected to arrive in Thrissur on Saturday afternoon to pay homage to four-time Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran who died at the age of 92 two days ago. Manmohan Singh is to arrive to the city at around 2 pm as opposed to the earlier 11 am, Congress leaders said in Thrissur.
"He was supposed to come around 11 a.m but the programme has been delayed to around 2 p.m.. He will arrive on a special aircraft at Kochi. From there, he will travel by helicopter to a place near here and would then drive down," a Congress source said.
The Special Protection Group (SPG) has already taken over the Town Hall near here where Karunakaran's body is placed.
The carriage carrying the Congress veteran's body arrived here from Thiruvananthapuram at 8 a.m., delayed by over 10 hours as huge crowds gathered even well past midnight on the roads to have a glimpse of the leader.
The cremation is expected to take place at his home near here after 4 p.m.
Karunakaran's condition deteriorated last week and he was put on the ventilator. His condition improved in a few days but he suffered a stroke Wednesday. He died at 5.30 pm on Thursday. He is survived by his politician son K. Muraleedharan and daughter Padmaja Venugopal.
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