The game is on. It’s showering googlies and wrong ’uns. Tactics of rugby and kabaddi have come into play. The trophy at stake – K M Mani!
Advancing from subtle gestures of romance, the CPM is getting ready for the betrothal. Not missing the point, the CPI has sharpened its attack. So far, the reservations were limited to the corruption charges against the former finance minister.
Now, state secretary Kanam Rajendran says inducting a party backed by the Church will go against the declared ideological stand of the Left Front. And the Left Front does not need a Saint to bridge the gap with the Church!
Mani didn’t keep quiet either. He hit back, saying he does not need Kanam’s endorsement, but the aggression was controlled, probably due to the reported counsel from the CPM camp not to provoke the CPI. Meanwhile, the Kottayam district committee of Kerala Congress (Mani) has taunted the Congress, asking whether it has the pluck to go it alone in the Chengannur Assembly bypoll.
The UDF isn’t sitting idle either. When ‘Bar - Baron’ Biju Ramesh came out with the revelation that CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had promised all bars will be reopened if the bar-gate case is pursued, several eyebrows went up. The timing was perfect. It would make Mani’s leftward trip tricky. Did the idea come from some shrewd mind in the Congress?! Don’t forget the bar-bomb that wrecked Mani’s hopes of donning the CM’s robe.
The Congress is also reportedly making preparations for that surgical strike in case Mani makes the final push – to ensure that the KC(M) does not go out of the UDF in one piece! No prizes for guessing who will be spearheading the counter-intelligence operations!
Silence pays
The culture vultures of the state are under the attack of a rare communicable disease known as the ‘tied-tongue syndrome’.There were a few incidents that happened over the past few days across the state which shook the conscience of the commoners.
A Youth Congress leader was hacked 37 times and he bled to death. The media had to cry hoarse before the police started its amble. A pregnant lady was kicked so hard that it led to a miscarriage. The family had to launch a ‘satyagraha’ before arrests were made. Slain CPM rebel leader T P Chandrasekharan’s widow K K Rema was subjected to an obscene attack in cyberspace.
No action yet.
The CM, whose heart went out to the teenage actor whose wink went viral and came under attack from radical elements, maintained stoic silence - till Sunday night.The great writer who contributed all of his award bounty of C1 lakh, sans three rupees he took for himself, to the family of the beef row victim, Junaid from Haryana, did not spare a penny or a word for Shuhaib from his home state.
The poet, who was bullied for speaking out against ‘caste walls’, has not uttered a word.
The dozens of writers and cultural hawks who came out in defence of the poet with poetry, prose and powerful oratory are in silent mode.
Silence is golden. It pays.