Rs. 5 crore allocated for memorial of Kerala political stalwart K M Mani raises eyebrows

An allocation of Rs. 5 crore for a memorial for political stalwart K M Mani by the ruling left-front in Kerala in the state budget has raised eyebrows, triggering speculations.

It was the CPM-led Left Front that had unleashed a strong protest against Mani for allegedly accepting a huge bribe from bar owners when the Congress-led United Democratic Front was in power. The Kerala Assembly had even witnessed unprecedented bedlam in 2015 with the Left Front, which was then the Opposition, preventing Mani, the then finance minister, from presenting the budget owing to the bar bribery allegation. Incidentally, the incumbent finance minister Thomas Isaac, who made the Rs. 5 crore allotment for Mani's memorial, was then in the forefront in the protest against Mani.

The huge budget allocation for a memorial at the times of a financial crunch raised many eyebrows. A section in the CPM was also unhappy over the budget allocation even as the finance minister termed it as 'political decency' to allot funds for a memorial for Mani considering the role he played in Kerala politics.

Meanwhile, the budget allocation also triggered speculations that it was a bid by the Left Front to woo a faction of the Kerala Congress (M), the party founded by Mani, which is with the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala.

The faction led by Mani's son and Rajya Sabha MP Jose K Mani is at loggerheads with the faction led by veteran Kerala Congress leader P J Joseph. The Left Front is reportedly trying to cash in on the opportunity to woo the Jose K Mani faction which has considerable influence in parts of south Kerala.

Out of the five MLAs of KC(M), two are now with Jose K Mani, while three others are with P J Joseph.