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Kerala Chief Minister struggles with sex, lies and laundered money
November 15, 2004
Thiruvananthapuram - Two-and-a-half months after assuming office, Kerala Chief
Minister Oommen Chandy is not finding the going easy with a host of scandals
hitting his government hard.
Chandy took over on Aug 31 after A.K. Antony stepped down owning up for
Congress' rout in the April-May parliamentary polls. His leadership seemed to
make an immediate difference as he went about reforming governance and the
bureaucracy.
He also came across as a grassroots leader, beginning a mass contact programme
under which he has been disposing of nearly 4,000 petitions daily and offering
instant relief to the needy from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. The
programme has now covered seven districts.
But then began the series of setbacks. The first one came when two ousted
leaders of his coalition United Democratic Front (UDF), R. Balakrishna Pillai
and T.M. Jacob, publicly accused him of ruining the alliance by not including
them as ministers.
Then in mid-September, an unwed teenaged mother complained to the police that
several of the state's political and business bigwigs had sexually abused her.
Shari S. Nair, who hailed from Chandy's home district Kottayam, gave enough
fodder for the media to have a field day against the government. Chandy ordered
an inquiry, but was then accused of playing down the case by appointing a
confidant as the investigating officer.
Nair, who delivered a baby girl Aug 15, passed away at the Kottayam Medical
College hospital Saturday night due to medical complications.
Her death has come at a time when state police recommended a Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) probe into the case.
Another sex scandal surfaced last month when 22-year-old Regina accused
Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty of abusing her as a minor eight years
ago.
Regina had made the accusation in 1996 as well, but then told a probe that
Kunhalikutty was not involved. She now says that he was, and that she had been
paid to lie in court.
Though Kunhalikutty has denied the charge, he has still come under tremendous
pressure with opposition parties and several women's groups demanding his
resignation.
This case also had a twist Saturday, when Women's Commission chairperson M.
Kamalam reported the disappearance of its files from the commission office.
In between the two sex scandals, the central home ministry pointed out that
nearly Rs.7 billion had flown into Kerala through hawala money laundering
channels. Kerala Police have admitted they have been unable to trace its
destination.
While the previous A.K. Antony government used to come under fire for sitting
on issues like these, Chandy has been charged with protecting the accused.
And the signs of pressure are visible. The media savvy chief minister abruptly
cut short his weekly post-cabinet meeting press conference Wednesday and
declared he would take questions only for 20 minutes from now on.
In his previous press conferences, Chandy had been happy to sit for as long as
the media had questions for him.
The only silver lining has been the united front his party has put up in the
face of trouble. Except for senior Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran, no one has
asked Chandy to drop Kunhalikutty.
But the silence of veteran party leader K. Karunakaran has also been talked
about.
With the opposition parties announcing they would lay a siege on Kunhalikutty
and Chandy, the coming days are not going to get any easier.
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