Kerala CPI(M) Goes into Huddle to Find Suitable Post for Jose Mani

With the notification out for the election to three Rajya Sabha seats from Kerala on June 25, the ruling CPI(M) in the state is now burning the midnight oil to find a suitable placement for retiring RS member and chairman of Kerala Congress (Mani), Jose K. Mani.

The retiring members are state party chiefs of two Left allies -- Binoy Viswam who heads the CPI in Kerala, Jose Mani and CPI(M) veteran Elamaram Kareem.

As per the numbers, one seat will be taken by the Congress-led Opposition, and on the other two seats the Left has its calculations on hand.

Of the two, one will go to the CPI(M) and the second one to the second biggest ally CPI, leaving out Mani.

KC-M is the third biggest ally in the LDF. It joined the Left in 2020, after a split in the party split. The group led by Mani joined the LDF.

Despite Mani's efforts to claim the Rajya Sabha seat this time, the CPI was defiant in letting go. The CPI(M) now has a tough task to find a cabinet-ranked post for Mani.

Mani has been in Parliament since 2009. In the 2021 Assembly polls, while being a member of the Rajya Sabha, he suffered his worst political downfall when he lost by a huge margin in his father’s constituency Pala in Kottayam.

The CPI(M) is mulling to make him the chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) which was held by V.S. Achuthanandan in 2016 after Pinarayi Vijayan took over as the Chief Minister.

Achuthanandan quit the post after his health deteriorated at the fag end of Vijayan’s first term as Chief Minister.

Even though the recommendations of the ARC headed by Achuthanandan continue to remain in files, the need of the hour at the moment is a cabinet-ranked post for Mani. With the time now ripe to accommodate him, it will not be long before the new ARC is reconstituted.

Another post where Mani can be accommodated and is a cabinet rank is that of the vice chairman of the Kerala State Planning Board. For the past nearly eight years it’s been held by one of the closest aides of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.