The United Democratic Front (UDF) leadership views Alphons Kannanthanam’s induction as a Minister in the Narendra Modi government as “tokenism” that hardly had any political significance.
During the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime too, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had inducted O. Rajagopal as minister in the hope that the party would be able to make a breakthrough in Kerala politics. Though the party was able to gain some ground in the 2016 Assembly election, it had a long way to go to make the real break through it desires, according to UDF leaders.
“It mere tokenism,” was the Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala’s reaction when asked for his views about the development. Personally, he was happy at Mr. Kannanthanam’s elevation. Mr. Kannanthanam was District Collector when he was Member of Parliament representing Kottayam and was a good friend.
However, the development does not appear to have made the BJP leaders of the State happy since not many have reacted to it. “The induction is unlikely to help the BJP improve its misshapen image. I don’t think Kerala will benefit by it (Kannanthanam’s induction).
The BJP’s calculations that it would be able to build bridges by giving a representation to the Union Council of Ministers from the Christian community would not fetch electoral gains because of the communal agenda pursued by the BJP.
The party had tried a similar experiment during Mr. Vajpayee’s tenure as Prime Minister when P.C. Thomas was inducted as a minister of State. Mr. Thomas broke way from the Kerala Congress (M) and formed his own Indian Federal Democratic Party to contest the Muvattupuzha Lok Sabha seat in 2004 on the NDA’s banner.
But the Vajpayee Ministry had to go following its defeat in the Lok Sabha election that year. UDF leaders refer to Mr. Thomas’s experience that found him getting sidelined in Kerala politics to forward their argument that Mr. Kannanthanam’s induction would not fetch any gains to the BJP.
Besides, it remains to be seen how much of an influence Mr. Kannanthanam would be able to bring about in a political establishment with a distinct North Indian tilt, Congress leaders said. Some of the Congress leaders did not want to make any harsh personal remarks since they have had the occasion of having worked with Mr. Kannanthanam as a bureaucrat, but firmly believe that he would not succeed in making any dent.