Thiruvananthapuram, March 12 (IANS) Will Oommen Chandy be the next chief minister of Kerala? The answer may inadvertently lie with a special judge who will Monday decide whether a two-decade-old corruption case should be re-investigated.
Former chief minister Chandy, who has been part of every assembly since 1970, has said that if the judge orders a re-probe into the palm oil import case, he will take "moral ground" and not contest the April 13 elections.
Chandy was state finance minister when the incident unfolded.
The import of 15,000 tonnes of palm oil was undertaken in 1992. The case was registered in 1999, when the Communists led by E.K. Nayanar were in power.
Former chief minister K. Karunakaran, then food minister T.H. Mustafa and bureacrats P.J. Thomas and Jiji Thompson were charged with causing a loss of Rs.2.32 crore by importing oil from Malaysia at an enhanced price.
Chandy was not named.
Mustafa has now filed a discharge petition saying he also be allowed to go free as Chandy has not been named in the case.
Asked what his reaction would be if the case is re-opened, Chandy, a consummate politician, said: "I will take a moral high ground and face it legally and never politically."
Sources close to the leader say this means he will not contest.
With power in the state alternating between Congress- and Left-led political combines, this means Chandy may not return to the helm if the judge rules otherwise.
Sources told IANS that Chandy has been inundated with calls from supporters asking him not to back out at this juncture.
"A large number of supporters from his constituency have been camping here and pleading with him not to opt out of the race. That is because everyone knows that the CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) is just trying to make political capital out of this non-existent issue," said one source.
Chandy has won every election from the Puthupally constituency in Kottayam district since 1970.
Mathew Abraham, an active campaigner for Chandy's election team, said: "I have been involved in five election campaigns for Chandy. And we have already started his campaign and the response has been huge. There is no way we will allow him to back out. Come what may, Chandy will contest and become chief minister for the second time."