Make Kodiyeri The CM Of Kerala; Give Achu The Boot!

What is the CPM leadership doing? Are they going to sit and watch as the VS Achutanandan government is steadily frittering away the goodwill of the people through its inability to rule the state? With the issue of the 123 nuclear agreement with the United States coming to a head, it is understandable for the party's leadership to wish not to have two crises in hand at once.
The problem is this attitude is not going to solve the problem. If the party needs the same number of MPs in the next Parliament in case of a mid-term poll, it needs to act quickly. At the current rate the party will end up with a tally of a handful of MPs if elections are held now.
The unrepaired roads, the health machinery that has ground to a halt, the unending scandals involving the ministers, the problems the CPI is creating for the ministry with its hard headedness, and above all, the effete chief minister himself - all these are going to finish off the government in the state.
The only two ministers who are really governing in all this mess are the Home and Industries ministers, and unfortunately, the gains they have made are being sought to be nullified by Achumama's supporters in the party and media. Because they happen to be Pinarayi faction members.
But fact is fact, and Achu has proved to be the most hopeless chief minister a state can have. And if the CPM leadership wishes for the party's and people's well being they should immediately elevate Kodiyeri Balakrishnan to the chief minister's post and send Achu into a forced sabbatical from politics.
That is the least they can do now, at this late hour, if they feel they have any responsibility to the people of the state who brought them to power!

Callous Officials Spoil Onam, But Kodiyeri Stars

The Onam fever is gripping Kerala, but rather than help the people enjoy this festival the government and the bureaucrats are trying to spoil it for them. The wave of fever infections sweeping the state is showing no sign of abating, and the health minister is still not in sight!
And the roads are still looking like canals. The roads minister went on a tour of the roads and elicited promises from officials that those potholes will be filled in "2 days." But let us wait and watch! If they couldn't repair it all these days, I doubt if they can do it in 2 days.
The only silver lining is the home minister's order to the police to stop harassing the public over not wearing helmets and seat belts. This home minister has time and again come out with orders that have helped the people - a welcome departure from the UDF days when the politicians in power let the police make as much money as possible from the public. Keep up the good work, Kodiyeri!
Lest I be painted a Pinarayi supporter for praising the home minister, let me say that the state health minister is a total failure. It is not enough to keep telling the people no one has died from chikunguniya in the state. At least show your face to the public. Mr Pinarayi, please take this woman out of this government. She is destroying the entire good image of the LDF. I pity this woman's ineptitude - even after an MP is down with fever she has done precious nothing about the health care machinery.
One heartening thing that happened yesterday was the tribal people marching to MP Veerendrakumar's son Shreyamskumar's (not sure if I have spelled it right) illegal land. The police shooed them away but I have a feeling Veeran cannot brush this issue under the carpet anymore. He may use his rag Mathrubhumi to settle political scores or divert attention but he will have to give up the land he has held on to illegally.