M K Das

The verdict of the election results in Kerala has been interpreted as a vote against non-performance and against the bitter personal and political rivalry between the two main protagonists in the state Congress set-up. The post-poll scenario now reveals a state caught between a ruling front that is deep in chaos and an opposition that refuses to free itself from dated theories.

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Kerala: Politics of Pressure Groups

Vol. 38, Issue No. 31, 02 Aug, 2003

M K Das

Chief minister Antony's critical remarks about the pressure tactics of organised minorities in Kerala were provoked by the Muslim League's demands on the rehabilitation of the victims of communal violence in the fishing village of Marad and the stand of the Christian managements of two self-financing medical colleges in the matter of admissions and fees. While Karunakaran's predictable effort to use the episode to launch a revolt against the chief minister has been put down, thanks to the firm stand taken by the party high command, what Antony has to demonstrate in the three years he has left in power is his ability to successfully ride out the pressure politics of pressure groups without surrendering to them.

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Kerala's Decentralised Planning

Vol. 35, Issue No. 49, 02 Dec, 2000

M K Das

The ruling Left Front leadership has been quick to claim the results of the recent civic elections in Kerala as vindicating its policies in general and the people's plan programme in particular. The Congress-led UDF has, on the other hand, claimed that the results were the people's verdict against the Left Front's misrule and especially, the partisan manner in which the people's plan has been implemented by the CPI(M). The ground reality, however, is rather more complicated.