Kerala :Two years back, when K. Karunakaran quit the Congress that he served almost all his life barring the last couple of years, the media and his detractors thought that he would soon fade away from the political scene.
But the ‘Leader’, as his followers address him, refuses to call it a day even after suffering several setbacks in the autumn of his life. After languishing in political wilderness in the last two years, the nonagenarian leader is ready for a comeback.
But it’s a travesty of fate that the man who had been a king maker, is seeking the mercy of the Congress leadership to return to the party. He came to be known as a kingmaker after he played a key role in making late P.V. Narasimha Rao the prime minister in 1991.
Sixteen years later, the clock has turned full circle. Not many in the Congress want him. Even three weeks after he expressed his desire to return to the party there is no official response from New Delhi. While the Congress high command is maintaining a studied silence his former colleagues in his home state of Kerala are sending conflicting signals.
Mohsina Kidwai, AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala, who had interacted with a cross-section of the party during her visit to the state last week, returned to Delhi saying that the matter was not in the party’s agenda at present.
The stand is seen by political observers as a reflection of the strong objections raised by senior leaders like opposition leader Oommen Chandy and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala to the senior leader’s homecoming.
Both the leaders have told Kidwai that Karunakaran’s return would fuel factionalism that cost the party dearly in the elections since 2004. They want those who take the decision to shoulder the responsibility.
They view the re-grouping of former loyalists of Karunakaran following overtures he made to the party high command as a strong indication of the revival of the factionalism in the party.
Apart from the factionalism, a section of the party men are also doubtful about the sincerity of the moves of Karunakaran. They believe that it is part of a grand plan chalked out by Karunakaran and his son K. Muralidharan to take the NCP back to the ruling Left Democratic Front fold.
Undeterred by these, Karunakaran has taken several steps forward for paving the way for his return to the Congress. He has not only accepted the leadership of Sonia Gandhi but also formally ended his association with the NCP.
In spite of all these there has been no positive signal from New Delhi. The high command is apparently in two minds. A clear picture will emerge only after the AICC session later this month.
E-darshan opposed
Seeing deity is a click away for millions of Hindu devotees with more and more temples taking their ‘puja’ online. But the devotees of Sabarimala Ayappan prefer to undertake the rigorous trek through the dense forests to have a darshan of one of southern India’s most revered deities.
They are up in arms against the attempt by the Travancore Devasowm Board, which administers famed shrine, to introduce e-darshan mainly for thousands of devotees living abroad, mostly in Gulf countries.
Akhil Bharatiya Ayyappa Seva Sangham, a major organisation of the devotees, said they would oppose the move as paying obeisance through web site was against the customs and traditions followed by the temple.
Sangham general secretary N. Sreenivasan said that they would convene a meeting of the working committee of the organisation soon to discuss the issue. He said the committee would chalk out an action plan to oppose the online puja.
Sreenivasan pointed out that the customs did not allow anybody to reproduce the picture of the idol kept inside the Ayyappa temple. Without the picture e-darshan will not have any sanctity, he added.
He said that the e-darshan was against the basic concept of the pilgrimage, which is undertaken by the devotees after observing 41-day penance. The devotees get spiritual solace only after going through all the rigours of the pilgrimage.
The e-darshan move has also drawn criticism from within the board and the government. Board member P. Narayanan said that the TDB president had made the statement without discussing the matter in the board.
"We will oppose it when it comes in the board. The idea of making arrangements for ‘e-darshan’ would be violative of customs and traditions followed by the shrine," Narayanan said.
Temple Affairs Minister G. Sudhakaran has also flayed the move. He said that TDB president had not consulted the government before announcing the move. He said that the TDB would not be able to implement it without the concurrence of the Devaswom Department.
Guptan had proposed the e-darshan as thousands of devotees of deity Ayyappan in the country and outside are not able to undertake the pilgrimage, which is set to commence from November 17.
TDB chairman C.K. Guptan, who faced the angry outbursts of the devotees at a meeting at Chenganoor on Friday, said he had proposed e-darshan as part of TDB’s efforts to improve temple management through modern IT tools.
He pointed out that the Venkateswara temple at Tirupati has been offering most services online. He said he was ready to tender an apology if the devotees considered it against the tenets of the spirituality.
Source: www.khaleejtimes.com
