Convicted
ex-MLA sure of victory
N. Narendran
Kottarakara,
May 6: Veteran Kerala Congress leader and former state Electricity
minister R. Balakrishna Pillai has probably never felt the need
to win an election so badly, given the fact that being an MLA is
what kept his political career going.
Pillai has been
found guilty of corruption in two cases. In the first, relating
to the illegal supply of electricity by the Kerala State Electricity
Board to Graphite India Ltd. Bangalore, without government sanction,
Pillai was sentenced to one-year simple imprisonment. In the second,
relating to irregularities in the award of contracts for the construction
of the multi-purpose Edamalayar power project, he was sentenced
to five-years’ imprisonment.
Still, Pillai’s
chances of losing this election are remote since the factors that
ensured his victory in the past still favour him. The LDF efforts
to use the corruption plank against him seemed to have evoked not
much response from the public. The person whom you meet on the road
or in a tea shop would reject the ‘corruption card’ against
a useful politician like Pillai with characteristic disdain. It
seems that many of them do not agree with the LDF propaganda that
Pillai has brought shame on the people of Kottarakkara and it is
an insult to elect such a person again.
Pillai and his campaign managers simply approach voter with the
theory that all the ministers in the ruling LDF are corrupt.
‘‘The
cases were fabricated and politically-motivated. In fact, the state
benefited from the graphite deal,’’ Pillai tells voters.
Curiously enough, Pillai’s main argument before the court was
that he was not aware of the supply of power to Graphite India Ltd.
When he was sentenced to a five-year jail term on corruption charges
in the Edamalayar case, Pillai had declared that he would prove
his innocence before the people. He had reiterated this to all his
supporters who had thronged the
Thiruvananthapuram
central prison where he was jailed for a week. Similar dramas were
enacted in front of the office of the returning officer on the day
when Pillai’s nomination had come up for scrutiny, and unlike
AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha’s, had been accepted.
Even an ardent
follower of Pillai would not say with absolute conviction that his
much-flaunted trust in the ‘‘people’s court’’
was borne out of faith in any lofty principles of democracy: It
is simply based on the confidence that the people of Kottarakkara
will never let him down. The constituency has rejected him only
twice and that too early on in his career.
Indeed, the
man on the street has reason to support Pillai — roads, bridges,
a KSRC garage, a KSEB zonal office and a host of other indicators
of ‘development’ which were made possible by him during
his tenure as a state minister. Hundreds of families received Pillai’s
bounty in the form of jobs. Even his political opponents admit that
he has carefully nursed the constituency, over the years creating
a votebank that will stay loyal to him. Pillai enjoys the support
of the Nair community and has also cultivated a loyal section among
the Christian population, using his connection with Christian leaders
well. He has also maintained a good relationship with the RSS leadership
in the state and sure enough, the BJP has never fielded a candidate
in Kottarakkara who could dim his chances. But despite these factors,
Pillai got a majority of only 3,300-odd votes in 1996 election against
George Mathew of the CPM.
This time, Pillai’s
opponent is again a CPM candidate, Raveendran Nair, a trade union
activist. In fact, the uncertainty over Pillai’s candidature
gave Nair an initial advantage since he had outdistanced Pillai
in the campaign The LDF is making an all-out effort to win the seat
by distributing notices and pamphlets containing extracts from the
judgments on graphite and Edamalayar cases.
The results of the last local body elections provided some solace
to the LDF. Of the six panchayats, the LDF won three.
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