Karunakaran: A titan of Kerala politics

So was said of Caesar, but presumably not of K Karunakaran, if the massive outpouring of grief over the death of the four-time chief minister of Kerala, was any indication.

During a large part of his lifetime, Karunakaran was indeed dogged by controversies, allegations of corruption and political back-stabbing. The Rajan case, concerning the custodial death of an engineering student, led to his resignation as chief minister in 1977 over certain adverse court references. The palmolein import scandal troubled him in 1990s and he was also accused of nepotism by people close to him, for promoting his son and daughter. In fact, the Congress party’s dismal showing in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections was blamed partly on the public revulsion over his promotion of family.

Yet, when he passed away aged 92 late last month, the love and affection that Keralites showered on him was phenomenal, in a manner that no other Congress leader in the state had ever received. In fact, the TAM ratings show that the telecast of Karunakaran’s death-related events was the most watched television event of 2010.

Even the Marxists who had always seen him as their sworn enemy and had nicknamed him ‘black leg’ publicly aired their appreciation for his contributions to the state. “He was a remarkable leader who stood by his words and beliefs. It is a loss to the Congress and to the state” was how CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan put it.

Development mantra

Apparently, Karunakaran’s contributions to the state were too conspicuous to be ignored by his adversaries. The Kochi airport, the country’s first international airport in the private sector, the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, the rainbow bridge at Kochi marine drive, the Nehru international stadium at Kochi were some of his contributions.

A demand has been raised by a section of the Congress to name the Kochi airport after Karunakaran. He had shown a visionary zeal in realising a private airport largely through private capital. “It should be remembered that Karunakaran accepted the idea of building an international airport on public-private partnership at a time when even the Centre had not warmed up to the idea,” says V J Kurien, who was managing director of the airport society and Karunakaran its chairman.

Kurien reveals how Karunakaran tackled those who were protesting against the idea of a private airport. “He told them it would just be like labour pain. There will be some difficulty in the beginning. Think of the fame that this project is going to bring to your small state,” he told a reconciliation meeting with the protesters. There were many hurdles that came in the way of getting sanctions for the airport. But it was his determination that helped tide over them.

Most of the bureaucrats who worked with him say that it was impossible to make him withdraw from something he was determined to do. He also had an uncanny knack of spotting talent and encouraging them. Many a Congress leader rose up the ladder with his help. But the same people turned against him when he began promoting his children who he claimed were also talented enough to be encouraged.

Karunakaran’s greatest blunder was his decision to leave the Congress at the instance of his son Muralidharan only to realise his folly and return after two years and eight months. Unfortunately, he was reduced to irrelevance in his last days and died a sad man. His party repeatedly rejected his pleas to forgive Muralidharan’s mistakes and take him back to the party. His death has now shaken the party to honour his last wish. If it had done so at least a month ago, he would have departed in peace.