“Now we will go back to the UDF and brief our constituents of the outcome (of the discussions with the leadership
By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram
Indian Union Muslim League leader M K Muneer, who is Kerala’s social welfare minister, may replace the Congress Party’s G Karthikeyan as speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, sources said.
The move is part of a new compromise formula presented to Congress president Sonia Gandhi by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Kerala Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala in New Delhi yesterday.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is in a dilemma ahead of the Neyyattinkara by-election after the IUML demanded a fifth cabinet berth considering its strength in the assembly. It has to settle the issues with the IUML, the second largest partner, before campaigning begins.
“There were certain issues involved in it that needed the high command’s clearance. Now we will go back to the UDF and brief our constituents of the outcome (of the discussions with the leadership),” Chandy told reporters in New Delhi. “The UDF will take a decision soon.”
The UDF could not keep its election promise of inducting Anoop Jacob as a minister after the Piravom by-election as IUML president Panakkad Syed Hyderali Shihab Thangal insisted the new Muslim League minister would also be inducted into the cabinet along with Jacob.
Under the formula, Karthikeyan would be sworn in as a minister along with Jacob and Manjalamkuzhi Ali, whose name was announced by Thangal during the cabinet formation last year much to the displeasure of the Congress leaders.
The Congress leaders were of the opinion that the IUML had not been given more than four cabinet berths during the four decades’ of its alliance with the Muslim party which has strong pockets in the northern parts of the state.
However, IUML general secretaries E T Mohammed Basheer and K P A Majeed said they were not aware of any formula to accommodate the party’s demand for adequate representation.
The IUML has 20 legislators after the Congress Party’s 38 in the 72-member UDF bandwagon in the assembly.
The Congress leaders are worried of losing the support of the majority community, if the minority representatives outnumber the majority community members in the cabinet. However, the IUML has the support of other key allies like the Kerala Congress.
“The IUML’s demand is justifiable. There’ll be not one but three members taking oath as ministers during the cabinet expansion,” said P C George, a senior leader of the Kerala Congress and the government’s chief whip.