May 31, 1999
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KERALA Playing Dirty An unlikely political row rocks the Guruvayoor temple. By M G Radhakrishnan
Amidst calls for action by devotees and the committee's three non-political permanent members, the Government's move was ostensibly aimed at ensuring the exit of Kartha who questioned the directive of his party, the Janata Dal (JD), asking him to step down. He claims the charges levelled against him are a fallout of a factional war within the JD. He maintains the "official" group supporting state party President M.P. Veerendra Kumar has been trying to oust him ever since he refused to work against the dissident group owing allegiance to former minister P.R. Kurup. "Kumar stripped me of my position as party nominee at the LDF Coordination Committee, then removed me from the party general secretary's post and now the temple chairmanship," he charges. Kartha believes his position was all the more vulnerable because Minister of Forests and Temple Administration A. Neelalohitadasan Nadar, who replaced Kurup in the state Cabinet, is a staunch Kumar loyalist. But Nadar denies any personal grouse against him. "Action against Kartha will be taken only if the vigilance inquiry confirms the findings of the audit wing," he says. Earlier, the Government ordered a vigilance inquiry into the charges against Kartha. The charges include the diversion of about Rs 40 crore of the temple's deposits from nationalised banks to a few scheduled banks, appointment of Kartha's nephew as the temple administration's legal consultant and unauthorised use of the official car, telephone and guesthouse. Kartha dismisses these charges as baseless. "The deposits were transferred because nationalised banks lowered their interest rates by 1 per cent and this would have meant a loss of about Rs 5 lakh," he says. "According to law, the committee members are liable to pay from their pockets any loss to the temple on account of any action or inaction of the committee." He also justifies the posting of his nephew saying the fact that he was his relative did not disqualify him for the job. Kartha says "vested interests" against whom he had proceeded also had a hand in his ouster. According to him they include many corrupt engineers, contractors and officials who were dismissed by him. However, five other political nominees are behind Kartha though they resigned in accordance with their party directives. "The trouble is a result of groupism within the JD," says A. Radhakrishnan, a nominee of the CPI(M) and secretary of the temple staff organisation. "It is this chairman who took the most effective steps to bring to an end to the corrupt practices in the temple. I had no choice but to obey my party leadership and quit." The Congress (S) nominee, V.K. Babu, also accuses the LDF of pandering to a JD faction without verifying facts. "The undue meddling by political parties in the temple's affairs is unending," says the temple's tanthri (head priest) and permanent member, Chennas Divakaran Namboodiri. His solution: "The temple should be allowed to be run by its traditional servants and devotees with the high court appointing a commissioner to oversee the administration." For the time being though, all eyes are on the Vigilance Department whose findings will prove crucial to the future of Kartha-and the temple. |
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When the state Government's Local Funds'
Audit Department charged the managing committee of the Sri Krishna temple at Guruvayoor
with a spate of irregularities last month, it was bound to stir a controversy. The import
of the charges apart, the political implications were also grave. Five members-nominees of
the political formations within the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF)-tendered their
resignations in keeping with their party directives, but committee chairman K.R. Raman
Kartha refused to quit. This prompted the Government to reduce the committee's term from
four to three years through an amendment to force Kartha to relinquish charge by July. 
