close_game
close_game

Sibling rivalry erupts in Kerala, this time it’s a battle for political legacy

Mar 10, 2024 11:09 PM IST

As former Congressman and chief minister K Karunakaran's daughter Padmaja joins the BJP, all bets are off between her and brother, Congress leader Muraleedharan

Though 14 years have passed since Kerala’s four-time chief minister Kannoth Karunakaran (alias K Karunakaran) died aged 93, the state will never be allowed to forget the wily Congress politician.

Former Congress leader from Kerala Padmaja Venugopal addresses media after joining Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of party leader Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi on March 7.(PTI) PREMIUM
Former Congress leader from Kerala Padmaja Venugopal addresses media after joining Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of party leader Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi on March 7.(PTI)

On March 7, Thankamani, a Malayalam film starring superstar Dileep, released and immediately triggered a heated debate on the large-scale police excesses that occurred during the heydays of Karunakaran. The film is based on an incident that took place in Thankamany village of Idukki district on October 21, 1986.

Under the leadership of the then-circle inspector I.C. Thamban, the police were accused of extreme violence — they opened fire at village residents, demolished houses, and reportedly sexually assaulted the women. Karunakaran, who was CM and also incharge of the home affairs department, justified the police action and defended those involved in the excesses. The incident started after a group of students living in the village protested against the practices of a bus operator, who would take full fare from them but drop them off kilometres away from their village. The operator was a Congress worker. When the villagers became involved in the protest, the police were called in. The incident of police brutality was even raised in the Kerala assembly.

A judicial commission was formed to investigate what happened, and the EK Nayanar-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government that succeeded Karunakaran prosecuted over a dozen policemen.

Sibling rivalry

March 7, 2024 also reminded the state of the former CM for another reason: it was the day that his daughter, Padmaja Venugopal, accepted primary membership in the Bharatiya Janata Party in New Delhi. The 64-year-old was the general secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

Padmaja claimed that she switched loyalty due to the longtime neglect she had suffered within the Congress organisational setup, despite being the daughter of Karunakaran. Her father, she said, took enormous pains to rebuild the party in Kerala fighting the Communists, yet she was forgotten. She said that her joining the BJP even had the blessings of prime minister Narendra Modi.

Padmaja’s brother, Congress Lok Sabha member K Muraleedharan, launched a scathing attack on her. He called her a “power-crazy”, “ineffective” party leader who had usurped numerous positions of power and contested many crucial elections unsuccessfully, using the legacy of her father.

Congress leader K Muraleedharan has vowed that he will not allow the BJP to use his father's pictures as campaign materials(Agencies)
Congress leader K Muraleedharan has vowed that he will not allow the BJP to use his father's pictures as campaign materials(Agencies)

Muraleedharan, a former KPCC president and one of the mass leaders of Congress in Kerala, even went to the extent of saying that no political party can reward “work at home” the way Congress did with Padmaja, implying that his sister had no work experience on the ground, and lacked mass support.

Padmaja was never electorally successful, but she held many coveted positions in the party, including the vice chairperson of the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation. She was also a member of the top decision-making bodies of the Congress in the state in the past two decades.

Before dabbling in politics in 2000, she managed a garment export business, produced Malayalam television soaps, and ran a recording studio.

On March 8, Padmaja returned from Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram, where she was accorded a grand reception by the state unit of the BJP, and where almost all senior state leaders were present. At the function, party state chief K. Surendran termed Karunakaran the best CM Kerala had ever seen.

This is the second such shift of a former Congress leader to the BJP in the state in recent times. The BJP inducted the oldest son of veteran Congress leader A.K. Antony, Anil Antony, to its fold. He will contest for the saffron party in Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency.

BJP’s shift in narrative

The praise that Surendran showered on Karunakaran marks a major shift in the party's position, which long dubbed him a henchman of Indira Gandhi during the Emergency days. Not only did Karunakaran jail many Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Jan Sangh leaders, he also subjected numerous political activists, and civil society leaders to police brutalities, custodial torture and murder, the biography of K Kunhikannan, a journalist who worked with Janmabhumi, the Malayalam mouthpiece of the BJP, contended.

Karunakaran arrested and jailed many old Sangh leaders in Kerala, including K. G. Marar, O. Rajagopal, and K. Raman Pillai, who eventually emerged as faces of the BJP in the state in the 1980s.

Late Congress stalwart K Karunakaran(HT Photo)
Late Congress stalwart K Karunakaran(HT Photo)

According to the BJP, Karunakaran was always a practitioner of appeasement politics who built the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala using the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the Catholic Church promoted Kerala Congress, and the upper caste Nair dominated the National Democratic Party (NDP) as constituents. Karunakaran, a brilliant anti-Left coalition builder, won the confidence of almost all religious groups in the state, and checked the growth of the BJP.

Thus for the Sangh parivar, Karunakaran was of the same mould as the West Bengal Congress leader Siddhartha Shankar Ray, who unleashed a reign of terror against political rivals during the Emergency days.

After Surendran's speech, BJP cadres pasted posters across the state carrying images of Karunakaran with PM Modi and Padmaja. In Nilambur in Malappuram district, Congress workers tore up these posters, leading to some tense moments.

Muraleedharan has vowed that he will not allow the BJP to use his father's pictures as campaign materials.

Political observers said that the sibling rivalry goes back decades.

Old-timers recall the public outbursts by Karunakaran during the Kerala assembly elections in 2001, when Padmaja was denied a ticket by the Congress.

Muraleedharan was the KPCC president at the time and also held the portfolio of electricity minister under chief minister A. K. Antony.

Muraleedharan evolved as a mass leader over the years but, according to political experts, lacks Karunakaran's persistence, intelligence, scathing humour and astute political manoeuvring.

‘Despite all his authoritarian tendencies, Karunakaran was a dynamic leader and brilliant organiser. A close confidant of Indira Gandhi, he was known for his efficiency, quick decision-making, and tendency to have things done quickly. He at the same time lacked humility and moral integrity. He wanted to advance his children's political careers,” said Dr. Sebastian Paul, a former member of Lok Sabha, who was an independent supported by the LDF.

The impact of Padmaja’s exit

Though she lacked a mass base, Padmaja's exit from the Congress is a setback to the party, which knows that she can manipulate Karunakaran's legacy, at least in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency in central Kerala that was once the home turf of the late legendary politician.

Malayalam superstar-turned-politician Suresh Gopi is now leading a high-voltage campaign in Thrissur, and the BJP considers it a prestigious seat from which it has high hopes. In response, the Congress has now asked Muraleedharan, who was due to contest from Vadakara constituency in the north, to stand from Thrissur.

Muraleedharan has now become a strong contender against Gopi, and political observers feel that he can effectively prevent the flow of votes from Karunakaran supporters to the BJP, despite Padmaja.

Padamaja hopes to remain electorally viable in Kerala in the long run by using the Karunakaran legacy in Sangh Parivar's favour. According to political observer John Mundakkayam, she raised two demands in her discussions with BJP national president J. P. Nadda in Delhi: A posthumous Bharat Ratna to Karunakaran, and the naming Kochi International Airport after him.

Karunakaran, who pushed forward many infrastructure projects in Kerala, was the driving spirit behind the airport, which was built in a public-private partnership in 1999.

“The leftists in Kerala had nothing good to say about Karunakaran. But Padamaja's joining the BJP has created a situation in which leaders, including chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, now call Karunakaran secular and inclusive, who prevented the BJP from growing in the state. With all major political formations in Kerala forgetting his excesses and invoking his legacy as an able administrator, Karunakaran becomes the focal point of the Lok Sabha election, fourteen years after his death,” said J. Prabhash, the former head of the department of political science at Kerala University.

Correction: An earlier version of the article stated that the death anniversary of K Karunakaran was on March 7. The former CM died on December 23, 2010.

rec-icon Recommended Topics
See More

For evolved readers seeking more than just news

Subscribe now to unlock this article and access exclusive content to stay ahead
E-paper | Expert Analysis & Opinion | Geopolitics | Sports | Games
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On