The Man in the Muddle

With the Kerala CM facing charges of political impropriety the state CPM decides not to field him and party secretary pinarayi Vijayan in the coming polls, reports T Satisan

It is election time in Kerala. So allegations and counter-allegations are flying thick and fast. Par for the course? Yes indeed. But this time around some of the charges are disconcertingly grave.

The row over two former ministers – Muslim League leader PK Kunhalikutty (involved in the ice cream parlour rape case) and Kerala Congress leader R Balakrishna Pillai (imprisoned for the Edamalayar dam scam) – are still fresh in the minds of the people.

Since both belong to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), the coalition was on the backfoot. But it lost no time in retaliating. Jai Hind TV, controlled by Congress, ran stories alleging that Kerala CM VS Achuthanandan had influenced Supreme Court judges in the conviction of Balakrishna Pillai. Senior Kerala high court lawyer Ramkumar alleged that the CM used a powerful power-broker in Kochi, Nandakumar, to get things done in Delhi.

Ramkumar alleged that when Justice VK Bali was Kerala Chief Justice during 2006-2007, Nandakumar flew business class with him to Delhi on several occasions. The SNC Lavalin case involving CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan was before the high court at that time.

But Nandakumar says: “It is unfair to say I flew with Justice Bali. I always fly business class, so I do meet many VIPs. I know some, and don't know others.” He had allegedly told some people that if the high court permitted a CBI inquiry into the SNC Lavalin case Justice Bali would be elevated to the Supreme Court. The CM, in an unprecedented move, wrote to the SC collegium and the Centre advocating Justice Bali’s elevation to the SC.

Ramkumar described the CM's action as completely unconstitutional. He pointed out that even DYFI, CPM's youth wing, had burnt Justice Bali's effigy in protest against his verdict in the SNC Lavalin case. Ramkumar alleged that the CM used Nandakumar's strong links with the judicial establishment in the state and in Delhi to serve his ends.

Jai Hind TV alleged that CM had influenced SC judges to ensure Balakrishna Pillai's conviction. Ramkumar points out that at least a week before the SC judgment against Pillai, the CM publicly stated that the Kerala Congress leader would be jailed. He says this proves the CM had prior information.

Ramkumar alleges that Nandakumar is involved in virtually every controversy surrounding the CM and his son Arunkumar. Who is Nandakumar? He is a young bachelor from Kochi. He belongs to a modest family in Vennala, the eastern tip of Kochi. It is said he is a PRO-cum-consultant of Reliance Group. This underlines his alleged link with the Reliance takeover of C-Dat.

C-Dat is an ambitious project of the state government with several major information subsystems. It has a mammoth facility to store government information, including sensitive defence-oriented secrets. Since Kerala is seeing massive IT growth, C-Dat is an establishment that would have been useful to future governments in the state and its people.

A treasure of valuable information has now been transferred to a private player. The CM maintains there was no bidder and, therefore, it was sold to Reliance for Rs 595 crore. Ramkumar does not buy that line. He believes the government did not invite tenders properly and no publicity was given to the process. He says, if there was no bidder, it should have been handed over to Keltron, a state government undertaking.

He alleges that the sale of C-Dat was done under the guidance of Arunkumar, who has a say in all major decisions taken by the government concerning IT matters. It is also believed that Nandakumar enjoys Arunkumar's whole-hearted backing whenever his liaison work needs the Kerala government’s support. Kerala's CM-in-waiting Oommen Chandy, too, has alleged this middleman’s involvement in the C-Dat 'sellout'.

But the convenor of the CPM-led LDF Vaikkom Vishwan differs: “TISCO was managing C-Dat until their term expired recently. Even though the government invited tenders, Reliance was the only bidder. Moreover, the Union Government had directed the Kerala government that C-Dat be handed over to the private sector player.”

Nandakumar is considered to be persona non grata for several political leaders in Kerala. He was once close to both CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and the Congress supremo, the late K. Karunakaran. He wields huge clout in several crucial Union ministries irrespective of which UPA coalition partner is in charge there.

However, the repercussions of the controversies surrounding the Kerala CPM are being clearly felt. The CPM state secretariat has decided not to field either Achuthanandan or Vijayan in the coming Assembly elections, while it has been announced that Kodiyeri Balakrishnan will contest from Thalassery.

Last year, Vennala residents were taken by surprise when Oscar winner Resul Pookutty inaugurated the Mahasivarathri festival in the local Siva temple. Recently the temple hosted a colourful festival for the first time ever with a lot of artistes of national significance, once again under the aegis of Nandakumar.

The Kochi mayor inaugurated an ambulance service established in the memory of Nanakumar's late father. Nandakumar now heads a team elected for the renovation of the aforementioned temple. Since it is an expensive affair and since the matter is subjudice, the question being asked is, who picks up the tab for the litigation and the civil work? Local people believe that Reliance is behind it all.

Ramkumar has also alleged that the chief minister recently visited an ailing Nandakumar at his residence using the latter’s car and without any official paraphernalia. Nandakumar denies the allegations levelled against him “I never used my contacts to influence the judgment in the Balakrishna Pillai case.”

As for C-Dat, Nandakumar says it was taken over the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG). “I have nothing to do with that group,” he adds. “I have never spoken to the CM's son. Moreover, it isn't a sellout. The Kerala government is still very much the owner of the organisation. ADAG will only run C-Dat on behalf of the state,” he adds. He claims that the fee for the takeover was Rs 5 crore, not Rs 595 crore.

Nobody has ever seen Nandakumar in any photograph with either Achuthanandan or any other major political leader of the state. But whenever a row erupts in Kerala these days, his name invariably crops up.

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