On Tuesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan returned to Kerala after a tour of the United States of America, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates to find the State in academic and political turmoil.
It did not help the administration that Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has questioned the higher education sector’s credibility, given the train of allegations of academic fraud centred around Students’ Federation of India (SFI) leaders.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president K. Surendran waded into the issue, accusing the government and the CPI(M) of systematically subverting the autonomy of universities to turn the higher learning environment into a party fiefdom wherein “felonious” SFI leaders had a free rein.
The government, seeking tie-ups with legacy universities abroad, has reportedly scrambled to salvage Kerala’s college education sector from damaging social media criticism and Opposition attacks. The move reportedly entailed a CPI(M)-monitored churning in the SFI, introducing tamper-proof security markings in degree certificates, and speedy police investigation against those accused of academic fraud, irrespective of their political leanings.
More legal fights
Mr. Vijayan also faced an animated Congress buoyed by the Kerala High Court’s stoppage of payment from the treasury to the consortium of companies that implemented the multi-crore Keltron-traffic camera project, pending disposal of a plea by the Opposition alleging graft in the deal. Mr. Satheesan warned the government to brace for more political and legal fights. “We will move the judiciary to expose the corruption and nepotism in the Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON) project,” he said.
The police cases against Opposition leaders have also galvanised the Congress into launching, what appears to be, a highly recriminatory campaign against the CPI(M) in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The High Court’s quashing of cases slapped on Indian Union Muslim League leader K.M. Shaji has hardened the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) resolve to give no quarter to the government.
Other issues
The Congress has also blasted the government for failing to mitigate stray dog attacks, a vexing civic issue that strongly resonates among the public. It is also leaning heavily on bread-and-butter issues, including the “cost of living crisis exacerbated by higher taxes, special levies and public service delivery charges.”
Mr. Vijayan, it appears, has the arguably unenviable task of tackling the undesirable situations that beset the government and CPI(M) during his 12-day absence.
