The campaign scene in Kerala is expected to reach a feverish pitch by Sunday with the CPI(M) fielding its two super mega stars Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury to address meetings and public rallies across the State. The schedule of the programs to be addressed by these global stars of the party have been finalized and the duo would set the State ‘ablaze’ with their scintillating speeches.
Two major developments that occupy the centerstage of Kerala politics are the move Kerala Story and the joint efforts by the Congress and the CPI(M) to derail the electoral express by name Anil Antony, the BJP candidate from Pathanamthitta who is also the son of A K Antony, the Bhishma Pitamah of the GOP.
Since the press meet addressed by Antony at Thiruvananthapuram on Monday asking the voters to defeat his son Anil did not make much impact, the Congress drafted the services of Nanda Kumar, a dubious character who is closely associated with the CPI(M) and made him level allegations against the junior Antony. Nanada Kumar charged that Anil had sold the defense secrets of the country to a foreign country for a price in 2013. Antony, Anil’s papa was the defense minister at that time. Since the matter concerns the then union minister, it was expected that Antony would react to the allegations levelled by Nanda Kumar. But even after 48 hours, Antony has not uttered a single word about the so called trade off and Nanda Kumar’s allegations fell flat despite the efforts of the media to somehow make Anil a suspect.
Former deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha P J Kurian too was brought into the controversy to substantiate the claims of Nanda Kumar. But Anil turned the tables on his detractors by Wednesday and said that Nanda Kumar was the deal maker between Kurian and the CPI(M) in a serious allegation levelled against the Congress leader. The CPI(M) had alleged that Kurian was the one who led the team of rapists who molested and raped an young girl from Suryanelli in Idukki district but the charges died a natural death once the main protagonists brokered peace with the services rendered by Nanda Kumar.
The allegation made by Nanda Kumar ended on Wednesday as Anil said that Kurian was the one who cheated former chief ministers late K Karunakaran, Antony and Oommen Chandi in his bid to occupy the top seat in Kerala.
The Kerala Story, a film based on real life stories about “Love Jihad” in which Muslim boys play the role of Romeo and entrap girls from Hindu and Christian communities with the promise of marrying them and later dump them as jihadi fighters in Islamic State in West Asian countries has added spice to the poll campaigning. The CPI(M), the Muslim League and the Congress lambasted the official media Doordarshan for airing the film in its prime time slot last Friday. But this turned out to be counter productive as the Church ordered the screening of the movie in all Churches across the State and instructed to watch it without failure.
