Honeymoon is over, says NSS

The honeymoon is over. It was only just a hundred days back that the chief minister Oommen Chandy was invited, and honoured by the Nair Service Society (NSS). However, the issue of the fifth cabinet berth for UDF partner Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the way the chief minister handled the issue has vitiated the relationship ‘beyond repair’ as sources close to the leadership put it.


The NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair on Thursday told  that the prescription followed as a remedy to the imbalance created by the induction of fifth IUML minister, i.e. the revamp of the portfolio of Congress (I) ministers, was worse than the problem itself, before dismissing it as “just political jugglery.” “So far, the problems in the UDF had not affected the administration, but with the juggling of the portfolios, the administration too has been dragged into the controversy” he said.



“Mr Chandy has done it before when he handed over the Vigilance portfolio to Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan. This is nothing more than that,” he said. According to him, never before was the majority community suffered so badly. Against the 14 cabinet ranks for the minority community members there are only ten from the majority communities, he pointed out.


“Kerala is now ruled by and axis of three Ks” he quipped and explained that they were Kunjoonju (Mr Chandy) Kunjumani (K M Mani) and Kunjalikkutty. “We have situation where there is a chief minister who interferes in the portfolios of all ministers, which is legitimately his right; where, majority in the cabinet ranks are from the minorities and where, all major portfolios are with minister belonging to minority communities,” he said and added that the cumulative effect would be disastrous for the majority community.


“Naturally there will be a backlash,” he said and added that it would not be surprising if the members of the majority community think alike in this regard. “I am not speaking about unity between majority community organizations, but a unity of minds of the people belonging to majority community,” he said.


The induction of the fifth cabinet minister for the IUML will not make any difference other than a huge hike in administrative expenditure as an additional Ministerial office, his personal secretariate and the men to staff them would incur additional expenditure from the exchequer, Mr Nair said.