POLITICAL GIMMICKS AT ITS WORST

Oommen Chandy , Chief Minister of Kerala, had declared at a press conference a fortnight ago that in the event of new dam being constructed at Mullapperiyar, it can be on the joint control of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.  This statement had come as a bolt from the blue which was contrary to the understanding reached in the all-party meeting conducted by him on the issue a few days earlier. Thus it was but natural that this had invited sharp criticism from many leaders including Opposition Leader VS Achuthanandan, Pinarai Vijayan and Congress leader VM Sudheeran. Moreover, KPCC President Ramesh Chennithala had also  expressed his disagreement on the said change of stand which was parrotted by Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Revenue Minister of Kerala.   It is a fact that the press conferences of  both Chief Minister as well as Thiruvanchoor were reported by almost all the newspapers of Kerala including Manorama and Mathrubhoomi.  Nevertheless, when the shift in the attitude of the Government was made public by Chief Minister and Thiruvanchoor has resulted in   a lot of criticism even from those supporting the UDF, Oommen Chandy has suddenly made a volte face and denied having made any such statement. Also, he has squarely put the blame on the media saying that they have twisted what he had said on the issue and took the stand that he had mentioned about joint control of water and not of dam, which nobody can take with a pinch of salt  as his press conference was published even in the media who are ardent supporters of UDF.

 If we closely  examine the events that took place in the recent past on the Mullapperiyar issue, we can see that a similar incident had happened sometime back following the filing of an affidavit on the issue by Advocate General of Kerala stating that Idukki dam can hold water of the Mullapperiyar dam in case the dam collapses. Intriguingly, at that time,the said stand was endorsed by Revenue Minister of Kerala the following day.  However, when the issue has become a contentious one, Revenue Minister also  made a somersault in the same manner as done by Oommen Chandy and denied having  made any statement that Idukki dam can hold water from Mullapperiyar dam  in the event Mullapperiyar dam collapses. In the process he had made himself a fool since the media including visual media had broadcast his earlier press conference on the issue wherein he had fully endorsed  the stand of Advocate General . Incidentally, Karirali TV had broadcast both the press conferences he had held, firstly endorsing the stand of Advocate General and subsequently denying having made any such endorsement and shown in the news with the captions ‘Yesterday:…….   Today:……….. ..     thereby exposing the Minister’s double-standard.

It can thus be concluded that the  acts of Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and Oommen Chandy in denying the statements made in their respective press conference before its  ink got dried up, have made them a laughing stock in the eyes of the people  of Kerala.