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It is -- at least as far as Kerala is concerned -- the year of the rising son.
As many as nine offspring of prominent politicians sailed through the hustings in the just concluded assembly election. And, curiously enough, given the premium Kerala places on literacy, culture et al, three writers, one film-maker, and a whole host of lawyers, doctors and other professionals fell by the wayside.
There's a moral in there somewhere -- if only we could figure out what that is.
Prominent among the rising sons are K G Ganesh Kumar, son of R Balakrishna Pillai (who, you will recall, was a cause celebre in his own right by virtue of having contested the elections despite a conviction in a corruption case) and Shibhu John, son of veteran Revolutionary Socialist Party leader Baby John.
Ganesh Kumar took Pathanapuram by a margin of 9,931 votes, while Shibhu John contested the Chavara seat that his father had represented, and nurtured, since 1960 and won by 12,483 votes. Both seats are in Kollam district, where two other sons found the going equally easy. P S Supal, son of Communist Party of India leader P K Srinivasan, and Babu Divakaran, son of RSP veteran T K Divakaran, also won from their constituencies in this district.
Binoy Viswam of the CPI, K P Mohanan of the Janata Dal, Dr M K Muneer Abureb of the Muslim League and A Sujanapal of the Congress complete the list of sons who have succeeded to the mantle of their politician fathers.
Not all sons, though, have been lucky -- the likes of K P Rajendran and C K Chandrappan of the CPI, and Bijli Panaveli (Congress) went down despite their political lineage.
Turning to writers, it would appear that the Kerala electorate believes that a litterateur's job is to write, not sit in the assembly. Thus, noted Malayalam poet Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan crashed to an unexpected defeat against a lightweight Congress candidate at Konni by a margin of 14,050 votes, while film-maker P T Kunhumohammad was defeated by P K K Bava of the Muslim League by 9,526 -- in, of all places, the temple town of Guruvayoor.
The BJP, banking on Kerala's penchant for literacy, fielded two noted writers in Dr Punathil Kunjhabdullah and Madambu Kunhukuttan. Both were relegated to third place. Which, in fact, is an accurate reflection of the BJP's own position in Kerala -- a total vote share around the 5 per cent mark, as against 49.5 per cent for the United Democratic Front and 43.7 per cent for the Left Democratic Front, places the BJP firmly in the list of also-rans.
Among professionals, two professors, one doctor, one former IAS officer and a Christian priest (fielded by the LDF) were humbled. The sole exception to the rule was T N Thomas Isaac, the noted economist, who won from Mararikkulam.
As with literacy, Kerala prides itself on the prominence it gives women. Surprise, surprise, the newly constituted assembly has fewer women members than the outgoing one. While 13 women were part of the former assembly, this latest one has just eight.
There is no dearth of veteran politicos, though -- as many as 23 former ministers have won re-election. And among these, K R Gowri, Oommen Chandy and R Balakrishna Pillai have all completed 30 years, and more, as legislators.
Of these, former Janata Dal minister A Neelalohitadasan Nadar and former Indian Union Muslim League minister P K Kunhalikutty made it to the assembly despite spirited campaigns by women's rights organisations for their alleged involvement in the Nalini Netto and Kozhikode Ice-Cream Parlour sex scandals.
The treasury benches will, in fact, boast, if that is the word, of at least four members who are facing corruption charges -- T H Mustafa in the Palmolein case, R Balakrishna Pillai and K M Mani in the Graphite case, and T M Jacob (Idamalayar case). While Balakrishna Pillai has been convicted in two cases, inquiries against the other three are still on.
And oh yes, to round off the picture, the 140-member assembly has as many as 52 new faces.
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