Chandy gets to feel his crown of thorns

Although Oommen Chandy has been elected leader by the Congress Legislature Party in Kerala and will be Chief Minister, he is not finding it easy to put a cabinet together. The 72-strong United Democratic Front (UDF) he heads has a majority of just two seats in the legislative assembly. Hectic parleys are on in Thiruvananthapuram to reach consensus over formation of the new council of ministers.

The Indian Union Muslim League and Kerala Congress (Mani), major constituents of the front, are now bargaining with a relatively weak Congress. The latter has secured only 38 of the 82 seats it contested and couldn’t win a single one from three districts.

A meeting between KC(M) leader K M Mani and P K Kunjalikkutty of IUML immediately after the results came out underscores how the two, rivals otherwise, joined forces to extract the maximum possible from the Congress.

It is almost certain that three parties with one MLA each will have to be accommodated. A fourth, the JD (Socialist), wants one minister. Yet, the number of ministers cannot exceed 20. The IUML is demanding five ministerships and the KC-M, three. If these are conceded, the Congress will get just eight ministers, when at least a dozen Congress leaders are actively lobbying for a berth. The community/religion card is being played unabashedly. Leaders of various Christian churches — Jacobites, Orthodox and CSI — are in contact with the Congress to get their nominees in.

All IUML nominees will be Muslims, and mainly from the Malabar region. The Congress has offered two cabinet berths and the post of Deputy Speaker to KC-M, but the latter insists on at least three of the former. A dialogue between KC-M and Congress failed on Monday. K M Mani, leader of the KC-M, said an agreement would be evolved before the swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday. If the party is given three, all of them are likely from the same community, Roman Catholic Christians.

As Muslim and Christian representation will come from the allies, the Congress will have to represent the claims of the other communities — Nairs, Ezhavas and other sections of the Hindus. Since there is just one woman MLA on the UDF side, this too will have to come from the Congress quota. So, while the Congress should have got at least 12 ministerships, it will have to rest content with eight or nine. Against this background, three ministers — Chandy, Kunjalikkutty and Mani — are likely to sworn in on Wednesday.