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Politicians hardsell US-Iraq tension to Kerala voters

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

The war clouds looming over the Gulf region has cast its shadow in Kerala's electoral arena.

The American threat to Iraq, thus, has emerged a key campaign issue for political parties of all hues, particularly in the northern districts of the state where thousands of families are dependent on the Gulf countries for their living.

According to unofficial estimates, 20 to 25 per cent of the male population of the Kasargod and Malappuram districts, considered as important Gulf pockets, are working in various Muslim countries. Any fresh tension in the region will not only pose security concerns but may cost them their jobs too, and affect their dependents back home.

It was senior Congress leader A K Antony who played the Gulf card first, accusing the United Front government of inaction against the American moves. At a well-attended meeting in Kasargod last week, he said the silence maintained by Prime Minister I K Gujral over the development was against Indian interests. In the Rajiv Gandhi era, he said, the Congress would have been in the forefront advocating peace.

Political analysts see Antony's attack as a calculated move to swing the Muslim votes in the Congress's favour. He is trying to cash in on the anti-American feeling among the dependents of Gulf migrants as the Communist Party of India-Marxist did in the 1991 election. The CPI-M had then reaped quite some dividend, they point out.

Various Muslim organisations in the northern districts have already started campaigning against American imperalism.

Meanwhile, CPI-M Politburo member V S Achutanandan, who is not oblivious to the strategic importance of the game, has come out in Gujral's defence. Gujral, who he described as one of the most able foreign ministers which India has produced, he said, had already reacted in strong terms against American pressure. Dwelling on the subject in an article in Chintha, a party weekly, Achutanandan wondered why Antony's new leader Sonia Gandhi has so far not broached the subject in her campaign.

The Gulf card is an important weapon in all elections in Kerala. The Left Democratic Front used it to the hilt in 1991, when nearly 100,000 people had to return from Kuwait. The recent repatriation of Indians from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia is also not without its influence in the election. Most parties have approached the jobless Gulf-returned with promises of rehabilitation with a view to pocket their votes.

The number of deportees is substantial in the northern districts. Kasargod alone is estimated to have about 27,000 people who are now jobless. The majority have voting rights.

The LDF government's rehabilitation scheme is gathering dust at the Centre. The state government has passed the responsibility for the rehabilitation of the deportees to the central government since it benefited immensely from the foreign exchange they brought. Although the Kerala government has formed a separate department for non-resident Keralites, it is yet to think in terms of providing any fruitful engagement to those who have returned.

Elections '98

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