Year 2014 for Kerala: How state's struggle to be sober triggered political tremors

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala’s struggle to be sober by living down its reputation for high per capita alcoholic consumption sparked political tremors during 2014 even as the ruling Congress-led UDF maintained its sway in the Lok Sabha polls winning more than half the seats up for grab.

Soon after the din and bustle of the Parliament polls died down, the political discourse in the state centred round the Oommen Chandy government’s radical policy shift to shut vast majority of liquor bars to cut down sharply on availability of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and lead the state to total prohibition in a decade.

After the initial enthusiasm over the new liquor policy, the government had to face legal battles as well as political fallout, including a serious graft allegation against Finance Minister K M Mani of the Kerala Congress (M).

To the great discomfiture of the government, which in previous years had deftly deflected the opposition onslaughts, Mani has been booked by the vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau for allegedly demanding and taking bribe from bar owners on promise of favourable decisions.

The Opposition LDF has seized on it to open a new war front against the Chandy government as the assembly polls are not far off. The Lok Sabha polls saw the Congress and its allies putting up a creditable performance, compared to most other states, by lifting 12 of the 20 Parliament seats from the state overcoming the incumbency factor.

The state also bucked the pro-BJP trend that lashed most part of the country though the saffron party’s O Rajagopal finished a close runner-up to Congress’ Shashi Tharoor in the state capital.

Passing away of former Supreme Court judge V R Krishna Iyer, who attained the age of 100 this November but remained largely agile till the end, left a void in public domain of Kerala.

Iyer had left a deep impression on the public domain of Kerala for over six decades as lawyer, minister, judge and human rights campaigner with a rare distinction of making his presence felt in legislature, executive and judiciary. The state suffered a major setback as the Supreme Court turned down its long-drawn with Tamil Nadu over the Mullaperiyar dam.

The apex court found no merit in the state’s contention that the 117-year-old dam is unsafe and allowed the neighbour to raise the water level of the British era reservoir up to 142 feet.

PTI