Left, right and no centre

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When he took over the reins of the Kerala Congress in 1977 as chairman, K M Mani was only 43 years old. The party was turning 13 and still in its formative years.

His colleagues in the party had then thought Mani would nurture the party even as the party's founding leader R Balakrishna Pillai had parted ways and formed the KC (B). In fact, that was only the beginning of a series of splits and mutations awaiting the party.

Two years ago, while speaking to TOI on the eve of his 84th birthday, Mani had said had the Kerala Congress stood united, the party would have been a stronger force. The confession was a negation of his own ‘growth by mutation’ argument which said the Kerala Congress could grow with each split.

The birth of the Kerala Congress was a culmination of personal vengeance and feeling of hurt nurtured by a group of Congress leaders who had been loyal to P T Chacko. There was no binding ideology rather than the will to bring an end to the Congress in the state. Along with the powerful Syro Malabar Christians, the new party had the blessing and support of NSS founder Mannathu Padmanabhan. Leaders from different castes, religion and class background were part of the party in the beginning, providing it a platform for growth as a regional party with secular credentials.

Mannam had christened the new party as ‘Kerala Congress’ with a vision of transforming it as an alternative for the Congress party. The party, based in central Travancore, had taken up issues of farmers and settlers to broaden its base. The young and energetic leaders of the party like Mani and P J Joseph were also successful in attracting youths in large numbers.

Mani, who is known as an avid reader, quick learner and a pragmatic politician could have easily prepared a roadmap for the new party, foreseeing the next 30 or 50 years. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. He was keen to stitch alliances suiting the present times. In fact, he was not much interested to look beyond the next five years. In 1970, while contesting almost alone, the Kerala Congress won 13 seats in the assembly.

A surprised Congress came up with the suggestion of an electoral alliance for the upcoming parliament polls and the leaders, including Mani, readily agreed. In less than one year, Kerala Congress leaders realised that the alliance was only for Congress’s gains when the Congress tried playing tricks to destroy the Kerala Congress.

In the future too, Mani stitched up political alliances with a limited aim of winning a few seats spread over Kottayam, Idukki and Pathanamthitta. He had no qualms in shifting loyalty from the Left to Right. Recently, he had even thought of joining the saffron camp. When ideology took a backseat, Mani began to play with diplomacy. He made friends in all political parties. As a minister, Mani had served opposition members more keenly than his own party colleagues. He was accessible to all. Popularity of Mani grew steadily in Pala and his fame slowly crossed borders of the constituency, district and state. People in and around Pala approached ‘Mani sir’ who could solve any issue faced by them. Deep knowledge about rule books that govern government business helped him find loopholes, which could be used to solve any crisis.

Critics accuse the leader for being a megalomaniac. They said growth of anyone in his group or below his rank in the party would disturb him. Several able leaders like George J Mathew, Thomas Kuthiravattom and P C Thomas had to break away from party as he nudged them out without any valid reason.

While he checkmated his peers keeping an eye on the growth of his career, later, the junior-level leaders faced the same heat so that the successor’s throne could be kept ready for his son Jose K Mani.

In the early days of his career, Mani had been a staunch campaigner against corruption. He was one opposition MLA who had repeatedly troubled EMS Namboodiripad while EMS was heading the government in 1967. Even the slightest violations of rules committed by ministers then couldn’t escape Mani’s scrutiny. Now, he remains an accused in a major corruption case which remains unsolved even as he bids adieu.