The Hindu Business Line : A new team, fresh hopes

With six Ministers from Kerala in the new Cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the State can hopefully expect to see some positive movement on the developmental front.

K.G. Kumar

Rarely has Kerala seen such a wide-ranging and potentially sinewy contingent of political heavyweights in the corridors of power in Delhi. Kerala now finds itself centrestage with six Ministers in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government. Two of them are Cabinet ministers and veterans – A.K. Antony, who retains the Defence portfolio, and Vayalar Ravi, who continues as Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs.

The other four Keralites in the new line-up are Ministers of State: E. Ahmed gets Railways, K.V. Thomas (Agriculture), Mullappally Ramachandran (Home), and former United Nations diplomat Shashi Tharoor who, expectedly enough, has been given the External Affairs portfolio.

Wide representation

They are also geographically spread throughout the State in terms of both origin and representational mandate as elected leaders of Kerala’s voters. Thus they are particularly well-placed to lobby for the different interests of Kerala. Shashi Tharoor has already promised to turn Thiruvananthapuram, the State capital, from where he was elected with a thumping majority, into a world-class city with first-rate infrastructure. As someone who has traversed the world’s most important cities several times during his diplomatic career, Tharoor has set his sights high for the Kerala capital.

At the other end of the spectrum, K.V. Thomas, who represents Ernakulam in Kochi, the industrial capital of Kerala, can draw on his past experience as a Tourism Minister and his long-standing relationship with the area’s business and corporate fraternity to give Kochi that extra nudge that will propel it on to the ranks of other top Indian industrial cities. Plus, now that he is Minister of State for Agriculture, Thomas can hope to revive Kerala’s agrarian economy, especially in the neighbouring Kuttanad region, the erstwhile rice bowl of the State.

Right signals

The Minister of State for Railways, E. Ahmed, has already flagged off some promises for Kerala in terms of railway infrastructure and new trains, announcing an additional summer connection for Keralites to reach New Delhi. He has also promised to link long-neglected Wayanad district to the national railway network, especially considering that the demand by the people of the area for a Nilambur-Nanjangud railway dates back to over 100 years.

The large number of non-resident Malayalees – particularly the thousands in the Middle East region whose remittances have long propped up Kerala’s economy – will also have much to expect from Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi. With the ongoing financial and economic crisis in the world’s industrialised countries having contracted job opportunities and led to retrenchments among emigrant Keralite workers, Ravi will have his hands full trying to sort out their problems and provide creative solutions.

Coastal boon

Between Defence Minister A.K. Antony and the Minister of State for Home, Mullappally Ramachandran, the coastal areas of Kerala will surely come under the radar, especially in the context of the potential for sea-borne acts of aggression from neighbouring countries. The recent cessation of the civil war in Sri Lanka, which is just an hour’s flight away from Kerala, has not dampened security concerns about possible incursions along Kerala’s coasts. The Vizhinjam Transshipment Container Terminal project, off Thiruvananthapuram, is also likely to get a boost with both Shashi Tharoor and A.K. Antony backing it.

It thus appears that, on the whole, Keralites cannot expect to get a potentially more powerful team than this to lobby with New Delhi for the State’s socioeconomic development. The moment of reckoning will perhaps come sooner than later, and if this team fails to deliver, there is always another general election in the offing.

The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com

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