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Allies of the Congress in the ruling UDF coalition in Kerala are irked over the equivocal and unilateral positions the party has been adopting on several crucial issues that have cropped up recently in the State.
These issues range from the re-distribution of land ‘grabbed’ by a corporate wind energy company to Adivasis in Attappadi in Palakkad district to the standoff between the Orthodox and Jacobite factions of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church over the freedom of worship at a church in Ernakulam district. The latest in this series is Thursday’s hike in petrol price.
Sources in the UDF said that the differences between the Congress and its allies would reflect in a large way in the coalition leadership’s meeting scheduled for September 26. They said the allies’ unhappiness over the Congress’s unilateral decisions on several issues had caused the finale of the ambitious 100-day action plan of the UDF Government lose its luster.
The Adivasi land issue in Attappadi has now virtually become a trap for the UDF Government, according to some of the constituents of the coalition. They say that the Congress had tried to solve without discussion with the allies as the two departments relevant in the issue, Revenue and Tribal Welfare, were being handled by Congress Ministers.
When Adivasis demanded return of their land, in the possession of the wind energy company which had installed windmills there, the UDF Government came up with a formula by which it would return the land to Adivasis while allowing the windmills to operate. For this, the Adivasis would get five percent of the revenue from the sale of power produced by the windmills.
The Adivasis protested against this settlement formula, saying it was up to them to decide how their land should be utilised, forcing Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan to say that nothing would be done against the wish of the Adivasis.
But it is now clear that the Government is determined to go ahead with its settlement plan. This position has created hiccups among the allies who are alleging that the Congress in Kerala is using the coalition Government to extend the UPA Government’s pro-capitalist and pro-corporate policies into the State.
“The Congress should have consulted the coalition partners before announcing any package,” said a senior UDF leader. “Their unilateral decision to announce a lopsided package has now pushed the entire regime into a trap as far as the entire Adivasi land issues are concerned,” he said.
The smaller parties in the UDF are alleging that the Congress is responsible for the worsening of the standoff between the two Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church factions. The on-street standoff has reached such a level that on Sunday, the Orthodox faction laid siege to the Chief Minister’s house in Puthuppally, Kottayam demanding implementation of a relevant court order.
“Both the Orthodox and Jacobite factions are known to be pro-UDF. But the Congress had antagonised the Orthodox faction during last Assembly election by not fielding any candidate from that section. If the Congress continues to disregard their sentiment, the UDF might lose their support altogether,” said a senior leader of UDF partner Socialist Janata (Democratic).
The latest development that has caused dissatisfaction among UDF constituents is the urgency shown by the Congress for justifying Thursday’s petrol price hike and its efforts to push the issue under the carpet by deciding (almost unilaterally, according to a UDF party leader) to waive the sales tax on the hiked price component.
Allies are of the opinion that the Congress should stop justifying the frequent fuel price hikes considering the fact that the Government is surviving on wafer thin majority in the Assembly. “It is true that the Congress cannot oppose the price hikes as the decision is coming from the Centre. But it is affecting the image of the UDF,” said a UDF leader.
These issues range from the re-distribution of land ‘grabbed’ by a corporate wind energy company to Adivasis in Attappadi in Palakkad district to the standoff between the Orthodox and Jacobite factions of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church over the freedom of worship at a church in Ernakulam district. The latest in this series is Thursday’s hike in petrol price.
Sources in the UDF said that the differences between the Congress and its allies would reflect in a large way in the coalition leadership’s meeting scheduled for September 26. They said the allies’ unhappiness over the Congress’s unilateral decisions on several issues had caused the finale of the ambitious 100-day action plan of the UDF Government lose its luster.
The Adivasi land issue in Attappadi has now virtually become a trap for the UDF Government, according to some of the constituents of the coalition. They say that the Congress had tried to solve without discussion with the allies as the two departments relevant in the issue, Revenue and Tribal Welfare, were being handled by Congress Ministers.
When Adivasis demanded return of their land, in the possession of the wind energy company which had installed windmills there, the UDF Government came up with a formula by which it would return the land to Adivasis while allowing the windmills to operate. For this, the Adivasis would get five percent of the revenue from the sale of power produced by the windmills.
The Adivasis protested against this settlement formula, saying it was up to them to decide how their land should be utilised, forcing Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan to say that nothing would be done against the wish of the Adivasis.
But it is now clear that the Government is determined to go ahead with its settlement plan. This position has created hiccups among the allies who are alleging that the Congress in Kerala is using the coalition Government to extend the UPA Government’s pro-capitalist and pro-corporate policies into the State.
“The Congress should have consulted the coalition partners before announcing any package,” said a senior UDF leader. “Their unilateral decision to announce a lopsided package has now pushed the entire regime into a trap as far as the entire Adivasi land issues are concerned,” he said.
The smaller parties in the UDF are alleging that the Congress is responsible for the worsening of the standoff between the two Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church factions. The on-street standoff has reached such a level that on Sunday, the Orthodox faction laid siege to the Chief Minister’s house in Puthuppally, Kottayam demanding implementation of a relevant court order.
“Both the Orthodox and Jacobite factions are known to be pro-UDF. But the Congress had antagonised the Orthodox faction during last Assembly election by not fielding any candidate from that section. If the Congress continues to disregard their sentiment, the UDF might lose their support altogether,” said a senior leader of UDF partner Socialist Janata (Democratic).
The latest development that has caused dissatisfaction among UDF constituents is the urgency shown by the Congress for justifying Thursday’s petrol price hike and its efforts to push the issue under the carpet by deciding (almost unilaterally, according to a UDF party leader) to waive the sales tax on the hiked price component.
Allies are of the opinion that the Congress should stop justifying the frequent fuel price hikes considering the fact that the Government is surviving on wafer thin majority in the Assembly. “It is true that the Congress cannot oppose the price hikes as the decision is coming from the Centre. But it is affecting the image of the UDF,” said a UDF leader.
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