Senior journalist K. Govindankutty, who wrote K.M. Mani’s biography K.M. Mani: A Study in Regionalism, recalls the late Kerala Congress leader as one who helped change political equations through the power of regional parties.
Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday, Mr. Govindankutty said the late leader contrasted his party’s political stance with the internationalism of the Marxist party and the nationalism of the Congress.
His stance was so strong that the Congress became a little cagey on occasions, remembers Mr. Govindankutty. While there appeared to be competitive regionalism among some of the Kerala Congress leaders, Mr. Mani always took the lead to sober the party.
Mr. Govindankutty also recalled that another Kerala Congress leader R. Balakrishna Pillai had to step down from office following the ‘Punjab model agitation’ speech, which was a fallout of the Kerala Congress contention that Kerala was being neglected by the Union government.
Mr. Mani could work with any political combination as he guided his party in the political sphere.
“It was fun working with him,” said Mr. Govindankutty, recalling the days he was writing the biography. “He was a prompt decision maker and, given his political skills, liveliness and acumen, would have been the Chief Minister of Kerala had he been in another party,” he added.