The discordant, raspy voice that originated from Karingozhakkal House in Pala and had resonance with voters of central Kerala for over five decades will not be there to move the masses this election season.

One of the most recognisable voices in the State political landscape, K.M.Mani certainly knew the importance of being earnest to his speakers. He kept drawing listeners, even from faraway places, whenever he addressed the public.

This is the first time in 50 years the rubber heartland is going to the polls without his presence.

Absence from poll scene

“His appeal as a crowd-puller is indeed irreplaceable. At a time when politics is starved of not only eloquence but argument as well, his presence on the dais was indeed a virtue not only for the KC(M) but also for the UDF,” his son Jose K.Mani told The Hindu last week, when asked about the KC(M) supremo’s absence from the election scene.

Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, MLA, veteran Congressman from Kottayam, says Mr. Mani used to explain even the most complex things using simple expressions. The most famous among them being ‘the more it grows, the more it divides’ phrase.

“Though not sure who first came up with that expression, it was Mani Sir who effectively put the phrase into use each time a question arises about the interminable splits and mergers in the Kerala Congress,” he says.

‘Additionality’ is another term coined by Mr. Mani during the presentation of his budgets. “Though the term literally meant something else, he used the term for denoting the head ‘additional items’ in the budget,” Mr.Radhakrishnan said.

Having presented as many as 13 State budgets, Mr.Mani was also an economist in his own right and had authored a few books, including The People’s Socialism, Eighth Five-Year Plan - an Alternative Approach, Fiscal Problems Of Kerala – Causes & Remedial Measures, and The Toiling Man’s Budget.

Theory of toiling masses

He had also proposed ‘The Theory of Toiling Classes’ as an alternative to Karl Marx’s theory of working class revolution.

“My point is that every government, whether it is British, American or European government, should give thrust to the lower middle class, who are the real producing class. The toiling class is scattered across the section and I want to unite them where as Marx divided them,” Mr. Mani had said presenting his theory in one of the halls of British Parliament in 2012.