Western Ghats: Mani to decide on next move in two days

Amidst strong rumours over the resignation of Kerala Congress (Mani faction) ministers, Water Resources minister PJ Joseph, minister on Wednesday abstained from a crucial Cabinet meeting.

Expressing their strong protest against the fresh office memorandum of the Ministry of Environment in implementing the Kasturirangan report on conservation of Western Ghats, MLAs Monce Joseph and TU Kuruvilla, supporters of Joseph, held a separate meeting in the morning. This evoked strong rumours over the resignation of Joseph and his close aides.

KM Mani, finance minister and chairman of KC(M), was also late by 20 minutes to the meeting, signalling high voltage political developments that would decide the future of Oommen Chandy ministry.

Mani waits for two days
Meanwhile, Mani told the media his party would wait for the draft notification on the Kasturirangan report, which is expected by Friday. He said he had conveyed his party's protests to the chief minister. "Office Memorandum is not acceptable. We need a draft notification that clears all the apprehensions of the people in the high ranges. For that we will wait for two more days," he added.

On Tuesday, the environment and forests ministry had issued a fresh office memorandum, stating a draft notification would be issued based on the physical verification conducted by the High Level Committee appointed by the Kerala government in order to demarcate Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) in Kerala.

Expressing concern over the environment ministry's decisions, Joseph said he would take a decision after carefully studying the proposed draft notification.

Both the Kerala Congress and the protestors in the high range districts are demanding a fresh notification withdrawing the earlier issued in November, 2013. The High Range Samrakshana Samithi too has rejected the latest office memorandum stating this was a mere eyewash in the light of the Lok Sabha elections.

Earlier, chief minister Chandy had assured the fresh notification would be issued on Tuesday, resolving all the concerns of the people in the 123 affected villages.

However, the ministry issued only an office memorandum, sticking to its earlier stand and this led people in the high range districts like Idukki and Wayanad launching strong protests. In the wee hours of today, the Congress office in Kattappana in Idukki district was damaged.

The Kerala Congress, which is part of the United Democratic Front, is divided over the issue with hardliners, led by PJ Joseph, pressing for resignation and Mani, a veteran politician, adopting a mild stand to "save" the Cabinet berths and win the Kottayam Parliament seat where his son, Jose K Mani is the candidate.

Meanwhile, deputy leader of the Opposition, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, has invited Mani to join the Left Democratic Front (LDF). He said Mani should decide which is important - ministership or the people.

Voting on April 10
According to the schedule announced by the Election Commission, polling will take place on April 10 in Kerala. The last date for filing nominations is March 22 and scrutiny will take place on March 24.

The last date for withdrawal of nominations will be March 26. Kerala has 20 Parliament constituencies and 235,586,30 voters.

Polls in AP and TN
Elections to the Andhra Pradesh state legislature and the Lok Sabha will be held in Andhra Pradesh in two phases in April and May.

While elections will be held for 119 Assembly and 17 parliamentary constituencies in the Telangana region in the first phase on April 30, polling will be held for 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Seemandhra in the second phase on May 7.

According to chief electoral officer (CEO) Banwarlal, the total electorate in the state as on Wednesday is 62.46 million. As many as 7.6 million new voters have been registered after the 2009 general elections.

Polls in Tamil Nadu will be conducted on April 24. The state has a total of 39 parliamentary seats.

The last date for filing nominations is April 5 and scrutiny will take place on April 7. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is April 9.