A 'balanced' chief minister: Kerala's new CM faces a tough balancing act

There's no denying that the new Kerala CM is swimming in a sea of sharks. He must prove that he can fend them off

Here are some important facts about Vadasserry Damodara Menon (VD) Satheesan, who has just become chief minister of Kerala, heading the United Democratic Front (UDF) government, led by the Congress.

 

He is one of the very, very few Congress politicians who are faction-free. The Congress in Kerala is a paradox: In the unit, it is the factions that manage the equilibrium of power and prevent the party from disappearing altogether as it has done in many other states. From the famed A K Antony-K Karunakaran clash to the rise of Oommen Chandy, who co-opted the leadership traits (and supporters) from both groups, divisions in the Congress in the state are also the glue that holds the party together. After he lost his first election (Paravur Assembly constituency, 1996), Mr Satheesan declined blandishments by groups. Mr Antony, former chief minister and former defence minister, was fond of him. Mr Satheesan accepted good wishes but stayed autonomous. In that sense, politically, he is a self-made man, hence the hint of arrogance that tends to creep into his tone occasionally.

 

The exception was former speaker G Karthikeyan, who spotted the young man in 1996 and sought support from both Mr Antony and Karunakaran to back him. He contested the same seat in the 2001 Assembly elections, won, and has held it ever since. In 2000, Mr Karthikeyan predicted he would be chief minister one day. He was Mr Satheesan’s political mentor, a fact that the chief minister acknowledges publicly.

 

So, it would not be wrong to say that among the many complex challenges he faces, managing groups is going to be a primary one. Although Ramesh Chennithala, a challenger and an old stager in Kerala’s Congress, has yielded for now, he will remain a source of discomfort to the chief minister. K C Venugopal, in addition to having legislators do his bidding, also has the ear of the Congress’ top leadership. So, while driving his policies forward, Mr Satheesan will have to keep an eye on the rear-view mirror.

 

And what might these policies be? Although there is evidence to support the criticism, Mr Satheesan is not an environmental fundamentalist or a Luddite. It is true that as leader of Opposition in the Assembly, he railed bitterly against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s proposal to launch a

 

530-km high-speed rail line between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod, reducing travel time to four hours, on the grounds of the environmental destruction land acquisition would cause. He scrapped the project (which wasn’t going anywhere anyway for lack of central support) in his second Cabinet meeting. His criticism of the development of Vizhinjam Port was rooted in concerns about corruption, though the overlay was the environmental impact the port would have on Kerala’s ecology after it was up and running. He fiercely defended recommendations of the 2011 Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, headed by ecologist Madhav Gadgil. The report called for restrictions on mining, quarrying and polluting industries while proposing decentralised environmental governance and graded ecological sensitivity zones.

 

But Mr Satheesan put his finger on a throbbing vein in Kerala some time ago. The floods of 2018 and 2019, followed by repeated landslides in Wayanad and Idukki, have created a “green” constituency among people as well as politicians in Kerala like nowhere else. He addressed this group during his campaign, engaged with it seriously, and tried to address their concerns. Many conceded that he “used words no other politician had done”. But the time has come to address the “man versus nature” conflict for real. The challenge lies in how he does this.

 

The other sensitive issue he addressed without equivocation was the issue of minority rights. The Left has charged him with communal politics. But he took away their Christian vote from them right under their nose by attending many church congregations (235) and displayed a depth of knowledge of the Bible that many Christians say they lack. Muslim groups, such an important element in Kerala politics, say they back him without reservation because of his assurances on secularism. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) was the first to support his name for chief minister publicly. For many in the Congress that is a problem.

 

To be sure, the new chief minister has complicated economic issues to handle, especially arising from the war in West Asia and the drop in remittances, which are an important element in shoring up Kerala’s economy. But he’s firing on the Left Democratic Front (LDF) first. He has signalled he is pro-public investment and welfare: By offering women free passage on state-government buses and increasing the wages of accredited social health activists (ASHA) and anganwadi workers, a sore point in politics in the state. The LDF didn’t go beyond promises.

 

But there’s no denying that Mr Satheesan is swimming in a sea of sharks. He has to prove that he can fend them off.