The 82-year-old KM Mani – known for his confident, neat looks and impeccable dressing, but his reputation currently tainted by allegations of bribe taking – will be going to the Kerala Assembly on March 13 to present his 13th State budget in a record 50-year-long legislative career.
But will he be able to make his budget speech?
The Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF), led in the Assembly by the 92-year-old VS Achuthanandan, has vowed to block the Finance Minister from presenting the budget at any cost.
The reason: in a recent scandal, dubbed the ‘bar bribes’ by the media, Mani had allegedly received ₹1 crore from the Kerala Bar Hotels Association for possible help in getting 400-odd bars’ licences renewed. Most people have a nagging suspicion that Mani Sir (as he is commonly called) must have erred, but no concrete evidence to fix him has emerged so far. Mani has filed a defamation suit against the association leader.
The LDF has not made public how it is going to block Mani, but it is likely that thousands of CPI(M) cadres will lay siege to the Assembly building. CPI(M) State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has warned the Chandy Government that it will have to pay a heavy price if it opted to let Mani present the budget. Both Kodiyeri, and Kanam Rajendran, leader of the CPI, the No 2 party in the LDF, are brand-new State secretaries of their parties. They were elected to the posts last month and this is the first platform they are getting to flex their organisational muscles.
Sullied image The ‘bar bribes’ is the biggest smear on Mani’s otherwise brilliant political career. He is one of the founders of the Kerala Congress, which had broken off from the Congress Party long back. Kerala Congress itself splintered several times and currently the dominant faction, Kerala Congress (Mani), is named for him.
He holds the record for representing an Assembly constituency, Pala, for 50 years without a break. The support of the Catholic Church, which has deep interest in Kerala politics, has been his biggest source of political strength.
Mani has been a minister in many of the governments starting from 1977. He has held important portfolios such as Home, Revenue, Law and Finance, mainly in the Congress-led governments, and earned respect as an able minister. His son Jose K Mani is the Lok Sabha member from Kottayam, the stronghold of his party.
Mani is considered a brilliant budget-maker. He has mastered the art and craft of budget-making and knows well how to please the masses, without actually conceding much.
But his 13th budget will be the toughest of all. Even if he succeeds in getting through the LDF siege and is able to present his budget without much trouble, the budget will carry a trust deficit. His political rivals have alleged that in the past Mani had given budget concessions and tax cuts to many interest groups and lobbies in return for hefty bribes.