When K. Karunakaran returned to Kerala after anointing Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao as Prime Minister in 1991, his hysteric followers welcomed him at the airport with placards that screamed, “You are not just the king-maker; you are the king.”
For Congressmen of Kerala, Kannoth Karunakaran, 92, whom they lovingly called “leader”, was exactly that — a Chanakya and Chandragupta Maurya rolled into one.
The canny Congress leader, who gave up the paintbrush for the art of politics in the 1940s, entered the Assembly in 1965 and was the controversial home minister of the CPI-led ministry from 1971 to 1977.
Though he became chief minister for the first time in 1977, he had to quit within a month following the infamous Rajan case relating to the alleged lock-up killing of an engineering student during the Emergency.
But he bounced back and became chief minister again from 1981 to 1982, from 1982 to 1987 and from 1991 to 1995. The wily leader perfected a “Karunakaran-style” of wielding power by creating hordes of loyalists who were ready to follow him come hell or high water. Many ambitious Congress leaders of the state follow this “model” even now.
He also had the uncanny ability to trigger crises and emerge from them stronger with a characteristic wink, a smile and a meaty quip (Once, when a fellow minister resigned, he famously said that he needed onions to cry). Like the proverbial cat, Karunakaran had nine lives.
While showing a natural talent for holding on to power, Karunakaran also built up from scratch the united democratic front coalition of myriad communal-caste combinations which has remained the bulwark against the CPI(M)-led front in Kerala for decades.
For many Congress and CPI(M) leaders, it was Mr Karunakaran who prevented Kerala from becoming another West Bengal.
An ardent loyalist of the Nehru family, Karunakaran was a favourite of Indira Gandhi, but didn’t get along so well with either Rajiv Gandhi or Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Though he played a major role in elevating Mr Narasimha Rao to the post of Prime Minister, Karunakaran lost his hold on the party in Kerala when he started promoting his son, K. Muraleedharan, as his successor in the early 1990s. This caused resentment among many of his own loyalists. He got embroiled in the palmoil import scam and his name was also dragged into the Isro spy scandal.
An inner-party revolt led by his finance minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, led to his unseating in 1995. A sour Karunakaran had to hand over the chief minister’s post to his bête noire, A.K. Antony. The “leader” never regained his glory after that. Deeply frustrated at being sidelined, he broke off in 2005, forming his own party, the Democratic Indira Congress, hoping to ally it with his erstwhile enemy, the CPI(M).
But the hopes did not fructify and the DIC found itself nowhere. He then switched over to the NCP but could not regain his political fortunes there either. A chastened Karunakaran returned to the Congress in 2008, but was not able to persuade the high command to readmitt his son, who is still in political wilderness.
Much to his chagrin, his daughter, Padmaja Venugopal (who had stayed on in the Congress) and his son, Mr Muraleedharan, also developed differences and even sniped at each other in the public. The Congress high command also ignored his letters seeking better positions for his loyalists.
Though saddened by this and troubled by various ailments, the doughty fighter and ardent devotee of Lord Guruvayurappa took it all in his stride and kept smiling till the end.