KOCHI/PALAKKAD: The fifth death anniversary of K Karunakaran, one of the tallest leaders of the Congress in the country, on Wednesday turned to be an occasion for some of his former colleagues to take a dig at Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
Cheriyan Philip, who was a Man Friday of senior leader A K Antony along with Oommen Chandy, posted in his Facebook page that he was pleading apology for being part of the “heinous act of toppling Karunakaran government in 1994.” “Even after 20 years, I am still haunted by guilt. Hence, I am tendering an apology on his fifth death anniversary’’, commented Philip, now a Left fellow traveller.
Meanwhile, a post by Oommen Chandy in FB, “tributes to the dear Leader of Kerala” with a photograph of the late leader was received with stringent criticisms as comments. Many of them pointed out his role in the unceremonious exit of Karunakaran in 1994 with the controversial spy scandal.
According to Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, “Leader could ensure equal justice to all sections by treating them alike without appeasing any. He had the conviction that development was not a weapon for propaganda but a matter for the people to touch and feel.” Chennithala, the former blue eyed boy of Leader, posted the comment in his FB page from the US, where he has gone along with A K Antony.
Meanwhile, KPCC vice-president V D Satheesan while inaugurating a Karunakaran commemoration meeting at Palakkad said, “Though the Leader had maintained cordial relationship with all the constituents or communities, he never allowed them to cross the limits. He did not allow them to grow beyond the shoulders of Congress.” This sounded similar to the editorial of ‘Veekshanam’, the mouthpiece of Congress. The daily, a day before, had hailed the “Leader” while indirectly drawing a comparison with Oommen Chandy’s style of functioning. In an editorial, it said if Indira Gandhi was the most hounded Congress leader in the country, it was Karunakaran who faced serious allegations in Rajan case and ISRO espionage case,in the state.