The solar scam, a political bombshell that rattled the Oommen Chandy government in 2013 and continued to make waves for years, has seemingly resurfaced with a vengeance to bedevil Kerala’s ruling front and the Opposition alike.
A retired journalist salvaged the controversy from near political oblivion by suggesting in an article that the Left Democratic Front’s mammoth siege of the government Secretariat in August 2013 demanding Chandy’s resignation was a political charade.
He claimed political deal-making and behind-the-scenes manoeuvring preceded the protest, which saw thousands of Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers with little access to basic facilities squatting on the road and sleeping rough around the Secretariat for nearly a day.
The LDF called off the “indefinite siege” and dropped its demand for Chandy’s resignation after the Congress-led United Democratic Front government agreed to institute a judicial inquiry into the scam and bring the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) under the probe’s ambit.
Leading political players privy to the 2013 events conceded on Friday that both sides had met halfway to break the deadlock. However, they vehemently disagreed on which side blinked first.
According to the then Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Cherian Philip, then with the LDF, and CPI(M) leader John Brittas, MP, set the negotiations in motion at the LDF’s instance. He said the LDF yielded ground by dropping its demand for Chandy’s resignation.
At a press conference in Kannur, Mr. Brittas claimed that Mr. Radhakrishnan had initiated the negotiations. He said the UDF had no recourse but to agree to a judicial probe covering the CMO.
Mr. Philip, now back with the Congress, said CPI(M) leaders were sceptical about indefinitely besieging the Secretariat but had bowed to the then Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan’s pressure.
Mr. Philip posited that the LDF, eager for a face-saving exit, also seemed keen to strike a via media to avoid being caught in a political cult de sac.
At the same time, he said Mr. Radhakrishnan was eager to stave off the LDF’s demand for Chandy’s resignation and avoid a law-and-order situation under his watch.
Bharatiya Janata Party State president K. Surendran portrayed the controversy as another example of the opposing fronts’ symbiotic relationship and politics of compromise.
He said the CPI(M) called off the solar protests as a quid pro quo for the Congress’ help in diluting the Revolutionary Marxist Party leader T.P. Chandrasekharan murder case probe. He said the BJP was the real Opposition in Kerala.
