Again at the crossroads

I could not be active on the blog for the last few weeks because of certain unavoidable preoccupations. 

Firstly I was actively engaged in the political developments relating to the Kollam Parliamentary Constituency which ultimately ended in the allotment of the seat to the RSP and Sri Premachandran. The party took the decision in its perceived best interests in the current political scenario of the state. The aftermath of the Kasthuri Rangan Commission report adversely affected the former settlers of Idukki and Wayanad and posturing of some political outfits like the Joseph Congress put pressure on the Oommen Chandy government with its razor thin majority in the legislature. The under wrap negotiations with the RSP  led to their deserting the LDF and moving over to the UDF with their two MLAs in return for the Kollam Parliament Seat.  Well, that was that.

Though I was hoping that I could do some good work in Kollam in case I was the candidate (I was sure of winning this time), I stood by the party decision. Some other aspirants of the seat made some adverse noises. The sitting MP said that taking in the RSP was taking the snake on the fence and putting it on the Congress Party’s neck. 

I am a Devi Upasaka and one of the guiding principles of my life is that I will do my very best in any effort I take up, but when the result turns up I could accept it as HER prasad whether it appears beneficial or adverse. I believe that SHE is on my side and therefore HER decision has to be right irrespective of my desires at that time. 

I have an experience of this during the phase after I resigned from the IAS and was waiting for an electoral foray. After I resigned from service, discarding 18 years of further career in the IAS, in 1980, at the age of 39, I worked in the Party on the various assignments the Party gave.

The first election to come was to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1982 and I was hoping to be given a ticket. I was not given and I was really emotionally shattered. But I was ‘compensated’ by the non official chairmanship of Hindustan Latex, a job in which I could excel. Then I moved on to work in Kollam among cashew workers and built up the Capex-Cashew Workers Apex Cooperative Society, took over closed factories and ran the factories successfully. Capex is still a viable and respected public sector outfit in the cashew industry scenario in Kollam. In comparison the older Cashew Development Corporation is known to all as one of the most corrupt PSUs- a milking cow of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats- a running sore in the fabric of Kerala’s traditional industries. Only the other day the Kerala CAG has pointed put the enormous corruption and irregularities being perpetrated by that Corporation.

My work among the cashew workers apart from the public presence and activities at Kollam from 1982 to 1984 resulted in the party nomination for the Lok Sabha in 1984 in which I won defeating the RSP stalwart and renowned trade union leader R S Unni. I kept the seat for 12 years, winning three elections consecutively in 1984, 1989 and 1991 keeping the RSP and Left Front at bay. Now the seat has been offered on a platter to the RSP by the Congress itself. Kollam’s political history has come full circle. 

But the personal point I am making is that denial of the Assembly ticket in 1982 led me to the MP ticket in 1984 and a Union Ministership for 9 years in the Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao cabinets. If at all I became an MLA in 1982, it is inconceivable that I would have been made a minister and I would have been in State politics missing the central chance.

Does missing the MP chance in Kollam this time augur well for me for the future? Has SHE something better in store for me for the future? Or am I to remain in the shadows of Congress politics blocked in my life work by the elements in the state and the centre who are antagonistic to me? Only time will tell.

For the time being I am on my way to Kollam to campaign for a few days for the UDF candidate Sri Premachandran who incidentally is a good friend of mine.  For that matter M A Baby is also a good friend. We had developed a good rapport when we were in Delhi together. I had associated whenever possible with his cultural activities like ‘Swaralaya’ and he always had a friendly and respectful attitude towards me. 

The other reason I was missing partly online the last few weeks is that I was going through the final procedures for my PhD effort at BITS Pilani. This has now come to a successful conclusion. My thesis on ‘Kerala Model of Development – Critical Analysis and a design for the future’ had been approved for the final seminar and viva on 23-02-2014. Those present at the seminar included Dr Sukumaran Nair, ex Vice Chancellor MG University, who was my guide for the research work, Prof Joseph Rozario of the Travancore Institute of Technology, Dr. S Irudaya Rajan, Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Trivandrum, the Dean of BITS Pilani and other members of their faculty. At the end of the Viva the Dean called me to his office, said I had passed with distinction and that I was from then technically Dr. S Krishna Kumar. They will be sending their official letter of Award of PhD anytime now.