By P Sreekumaran
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thomas Isaac episode is a closed chapter, says CPI(M) state acting secretary A Vijayaraghavan. It certainly is not.
The issues raised by the Finance Minister are very much valid. They need to be discussed and debated in detail and not brushed under the carpet, as is being done by top party leaders.
A close look at the issues is necessary to put things in proper perspective. Isaac’s first objection was to the timing of the Vigilance raids on the Kerala State Financial Enterprises (KSFE), which comes under the Finance Ministry. The raids by government’s own investigative agency were conducted at a time when the central investigative agencies are circling over the State looking for a chance to grill the Government, contended the FM. Heavens would not have come crashing if the raids had been deferred to better times. The raids also gave the Opposition another weapon to put the Government on the mat. It was an unkindest cut, especially when the Government is fighting a crucial election.
The detractors of Isaac both within the party and outside say that the FM made a big mistake by going public with his angry outburst against the Vigilance. The Vigilance director has the powers to go ahead with the raids without informing the Minister, they argued. They have a point. Admitted. But the raids could not have come at a worse time for the Government. If Isaac’s open criticism was wrong, then the timing of the raids was equally wrong. It gave the impression that the KSFE was a den of corruption, and created doubts in the minds of lakhs of people who depended on it. The CM‘s contention that what Vigilance did was only routine inspection and not raids did not help to clear the confusion either.
Another grouse of the FM was that he was kept in the dark about the raids As the Minister concerned, he had every right to be informed about the raids, he contended. Of course, the Chief Minister and other ministerial colleagues of Isaac said the minister need not be informed about the raids by vigilance.
Even the CPI, which initially criticized the raids, did a U-turn and berated the FM for his public criticism of the Vigilance action.CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran said that Isaac could have avoided going public with his critical statement.
But, then, is there a law which gives the bureaucrats the powers to conduct raids without informing the ministers? If there is a law, convention or norm on the issue, it needs to be thrown out lock, stock and barrel. In a democracy, the people’s representatives – MLAs, MPs and Ministers among them -are supreme. Not the bureaucrats. The bureaucrats are supposed to implement the policies laid down by the Government. If the bureaucrats were to decide policy matters and start bypassing the Ministers, then that militates against the very concept of democracy. The damage done by the CM’s former principal secretary Shivshankar is there for all to see. The Government is facing the music for the overzealous bureaucrat’s various acts of omission and commission.
Will the Isaac episode have an impact on the prospects of the Left Democratic Front(LDF) in the local bodies elections? Unlikely, although the opposition parties are doing their level best to cash in on the Government’s discomfiture. In the local bodies elections, it is the bread and butter issues which dominate the campaign. The LDF is, rightly, concentrating on these issues and the record of the Government in implementing people-friendly steps and welfare measures.
But things could be different in the Assembly elections, which is a different ball game altogether. There, the slew of so-called scams and corruption may have a bigger bearing on the electoral outcome. (IPA Service)
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