Rice Politics to leave Kerala bled High and Dry

"Government’s priority is to free Kerala from
this horrible situation. My Government will
crush sex rackets, extremists group and
criminal gangs. Loopholes of law if any will
be plugged to ensure this. During my election campaign I have promised that those who involved in sex racket cases will be handcuffed and jailed.
Now as chief minister, I reiterate my resolve.
Immediate steps will be taken to ensure that
the sex racket cases are taken up and worked
out".

Above given is an excerpt from the speech delivered by V.S. Achuthanandan in 2006 immediately after taking over the charge of the chief minister of Kerala. It is unfortunate that the outgoing chief minister hardly knows the meaning of the word 'priority'; or why the people of the state - largely living a life of apprehension, intimidated by the same criminal gangs mentioned by him in the speech, - were made to wait for five full years to be treated with another pledge - that the same old things would be the priority for yet another five years' time.

Mr Achuthanandan had added in his 2006 speech, "As protecting the life and private property of the individual, it’s important to ensure the safety of public property as well. But this was not the case in last five years. Kerala was witnessed to the shameless encroachment of our natural resources like
forest , lakes, seashore and other public places
and properties".

Talking frankly, the common people of Kerala were really worried about the day by day worsening law and order condition of the state, and still are. This was also where the people of the state as a whole had had great faith and expectations in VS. Unfortunately, he was not only able to live up to that, but also strived to put the blame on the CPI M party leadership that had already started estranging him then. The history has always tend to say that big talkers never proved to be big administrators. None better than Mr Achuthanandan is the apt testimonial for that theory.

Among the myriad dreadful homicides that happened across the state after the VS government took charge (including the murder of the Muthoot scion and the remorseless killing of a BJP man at a bus in Palakkad)), take the case of the latest where a man was stabbed to death by a boy for trying to safeguard his daughter from the assailant. Many an uninformed (particularly those brain-deads among the lot that owe allegiance to his party) may argue that it had nothing to do with the government for being a case of psychological anomaly.

This argument only stands until the information is out that the case had already been with the police that had once given a glorious rebuke to the budding criminal for pestering the girl. Even kindergartners in the state know today that the police here is more than capable of converting stringent chastising into simple rebukes according to the tipping received from the part of the accused. But, at least Mr VS that proudly holds the 'administration of civil and criminal justice' portfolio needed the farsightedness to prompt the department to act in a preventive way, which was capable of staving off many a potential crime in the region.

So once again Mr Achuthanandan is back with his old favourite, Ms Regina, who had incidentally been instrumental in hoisting the revolutionary to the throne of a democrat, which not even Communist legends such as P Krishna Pillai or EMS Nampoodiripad were able to do. Fortunately, this time VS will mercifully keep away from the name of the late Kiliroor girl, since her parents seem to be campaigning against him with the opposition. When Mr Achuthanandan's commitment levels here are monitored we find that the zest somehow go begging when it comes to trying people that have commited the same offence of violating the modesty of a woman, in his own party.

However, the twist in the tale has undoubtedly been the rice politics in the state that had bloomed only recently. By this, today the people of Kerala that have been seriously rocked by the inordinate price rises of the recent times, regardless of being in the BPL or APL groups, can have a kg of rice by paying just a couple of Rupees. The opposition has responded to the gimmick as well by announcing their own share of sops. But this is where, the people of Kerala are more likely to rue the fact that they do not belong to the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, where instead of the meagre rice, the offerings include laptops, mixers, grinders, and can you imagine? GOLD!!!!!

The seriously devastating effects of these announcements can whatsoever be felt in the days ahead. When the government requires hundreds of crores of Rupees to fulfill the promise of delivering Rs 2 rice in Kerala for the next five years, it absolutely contradicts with the lines bellowed by Mr Achuthanandan in his 2006 speech. "Our preliminary evaluation suggest that the financial crisis is far grave than we anticipated. While debts have piled up, the Government had taken loans from every possible source, had taken Central Government funds in advance, diverted the funds and slashed plan funds. This is how the previous government managed to hide the financial crisis from the people. We are duty bound to re-evaluate the financial position of the Government and place it before the people".

Mr Achuthanandan along with his party obviously need to understand the virtue of good governance as the peasants and the labourers across the region have always been there to support him (say his foreign trips to China, Russia, Mangolia and the United Kingdom),.....as they have also found vicarious enjoyment in the luxury trips made by his son to exotic destinations such as Macao and Dubai,....as they are more likely to break down once they feel the pinch of the iminent hike in the prices of fuel (which is necessary for cooking the Rs 2 rice) and vegetables designed for balancing the realisation of all the sops.....as these poor souls are not going to benefit from the digital boom, since they had adhered to his not-so-old advice of staying clear of the devilish and bourgeois 'computer',.....and as they are no more in a mood to sacrifice their offsprings in the name of revolution and yet again risk their very existence.

Let these people that have only acclaim for you today not say,"shame on you VS for foisting on us petty matters such as eve-teasers' tales and sporadic convictions of those who are guilty of corruption, and in effect robbing us of our right to live a prosperous and peaceful life". Dare not you think that all those shouting slogans for you are blindfolded. for there are little fresh and green sprouts among the stodgy lot that will not refrain from calling out categorically, "THE KING is NAKED".