It is calm before the storm in Congress

Thiruvananthapuram: It is calm before the storm in the Congress  which is facing one of its worst crises in its history with the report of the solar judicial commission set to be tabled in the special session of the Assembly on Thursday.

By all accounts, Justice G. Sivarajan has pointed fingers at the Congress leaders, the majority of them from the ‘A’  group,  in the shady dealings and the sexual harassment charges raised by  Saritha S. Nair. But the Congress hopes to weather the storm with the argument that the commission had gone beyond its term of reference which  was to determine whether  the government had suffered any financial loss in the solar scam.

The 'A' group’s task  to defend former chief  minister Oommen Chandy and his loyalists who are in the thick of the scandal. Former chief justice of Kerala High Court Arijit Pasayat has given the nod to  continue with the cases against the tainted leaders which is a setback to the Congress.  Apart from Mr Chandy, the  affected ‘A’ group leaders include former home minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, former power minister Aryadan Muhammed, former MLAs Benny Behanan and Thampanoor Ravi.   Mr Behanan, who is busy with Mr Ramesh Chennithala’s ‘Padayorukkam,’ told DC that the Congress would not suffer any setback from the   commission report.

The commission was appointed to inquire into the money fraud and not the alleged sexual harassment, says the opposition.  However,  many say that Chandy’s office had handled its affairs badly when he was chief minister. They also feel that Justice Sivarajan  is known to have leanings towards the Left.
 “Chandy zeroed in on Justice Sivarajan as his loyalists like K. Babu, Thiruvanchoor, his former political secretary,  the late K. S. Vasudeva Sharma, and former AG K. P. Dandapani recommended his name. Chandy should have discused his name with other party colleagues,”  a Congress MLA told  DC.
 Alappuzha MP K. C. Venugopal, former revenue minister Adoor Prakash, Ernakulam MLA Hibi Eden, Wandoor MLA A. P. Anil Kumar and KPCC general secretary N. Subramanian belong to the ‘I’ camp. But the group  has not been badly hit compared to the ‘A’ group as all its  top leaders are involved except Irikkur MLA K. C. Joseph and KPCC president M. M. Hassan.