After the bypass road, Kerala Congress (M), a prominent constituent of the ruling Left Democratic Front, is getting yet another development project in Pala named after its founder leader K.M. Mani. It will henceforth be known as K.M . Mani Memorial General Hospital, Pala .
Based on Pala municipality’s and the hospital managing committee’s recommendations, the Cabinet announced a decision to name the General Hospital here after the leader on Wednesday. Though these recommendations had been submitted at least three years ago, the proposal was revived recently on an intervention by Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine.
Mr. Mani, in his capacity as legislator of Pala, had been instrumental in elevating the hospital, previously called Meenachil Taluk Hospital, to the status of General Hospital in 2004. He had allotted ₹9.75 crore from his asset development fund to establish a state-of-the-art diagnosis centre and gave an administrative sanction of ₹40 crore later for constructing its administrative and cath lab blocks.
Observers are of the view that the renaming of the hospital also formed part of a plan by the CPI(M)-led LDF government to firm up its association with the regional party and acknowledge the upper hand it claims in Central Travancore including Pala. KC(M) chairman Jose K. Mani, on his part, has swiftly reciprocated by expressing to the ruling coalition and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan `the unconditional love and gratitude of the people of Pala'.
The Kerala Congress led by P.J. Joseph—the foremost adversary of the KC(M) in the region—too has welcomed the decision, while also using the occasion to remind voters of the no-holds-barred attack that the LDF had launched on the KC(M) patriarch in connection with the Bar Bribery Scam.
Considering that the party too lays a claim over the brand of politics espoused by Mani, it should not have come as a surprise to anyone.
“The aspirations of the LDF are evident—to cash in on the legacy of a leader it had long set itself against and help the KC(M) recapture Pala, its citadel. The unveiling of Mani’s statue just ahead of the previous Assembly election and naming of the Bypass road last year were the primary steps in this direction,” noted a veteran Kerala Congress leader.
The move, meanwhile, is also expected to give traction to the efforts by KC(M) to affirm its presence and recapture the Pala seat, which for long served as its citadel till the death of Mani in 2019.
