Vote For A Cultural Who's Who

The first election of this millennium, along the coast of Kerala - fromKasargode to Kanyakumari has thrown up some very interesting faces. Among the675 candidates seeking mandate from over two crore voters for the 140 seats inthe State assembly, there is a priest, a poet, a novelist, awriter/screenplay-writer, a filmmaker, an actor and a film producer.

Father Mathayi Nooranal: Meet Father Mathayi Nooranal, the first priestto stand in an election in Kerala. He is a man-about-town and a sophisticatedclergyman. Seeking the mandate from the Sultan Bathery constituency of Wayanaddistrict, Fr Nooranal of the Orthodox Church is a face very familiar to everyonein Wayanad, even children. This priest came to Wayanad in the north of Keralafrom his home in Muvattupuzha in the south, in 1951, to take charge of theservices in Sultan Bathery’s St Mary’s Orthodox Church

He has been championing the cause of the farmers in Wayanad since the time heset his feet on this land. He was on the forefront of a struggle here thatresulted in the famous distribution of land to 7,000 farmers by the then revenueminister K.T. Jacob.

As the priest trustee of the Malankara Orthodox Church, his services to thesociety have not just been pastoral. A leader of sorts and one who takes pride in"having rubbed shoulders with the likes of Fr Vadakkan and Baby John inthe fight for farmers' rights both here and in the neighbouring Nilambur district", Fr Nooranalis also a practicing homeopathy physician. He has been the force behind Wayanadgetting its first college, St Mary’s College, in 1965. He is the president ofthe All Kerala Private College Management Association, president of SultanBathery Cooperative Bank since 1960 and has founded the Sultan Bathery UrbanCooperative Bank and the Cooperative Coffee Society. The resume goes on.

The CPI (M) couldn’t have found anyone better. This despite the fact that thereare some among the tribals (all Marxist supporters) here who feel that thiscleric has cheated them of their land. They allege the St Mary’s collegestands on a land that belongs to them. But this resentment is likely to create only minor potholes in the road that leads this veteran priest to the Kerala Assembly.

This is not the first time that a priest has become an elected member of thestate assembly in India (Father P.J. Joseph, originally from Kerala, was electedto the Karnataka assembly as an independent, supported by the Janata Party adecade ago). Nor is this the first time that a priest has entered therepugnant world of politics. Fr Vadakkan’s (a prominent social activist)Karshaka Thozhilali Party was a part of the seven-party Front led by E.M.SNamboodiripad that swept the State polls in 1967.

Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan: The Malayalam poet who gave the language suchimmortal lines as Ningala Njangalude Kochumakale Chuttu Thinnille (Didn’t youroast and eat our little children?) is back again on the road seeking votes asan independent on the CPI (M) panel. A sitting MLA, the betel-nut-chewingKadamannitta Ramakrishnan, however, will be knocking the doors of the Konniassembly constituency this time.

Aranmullah, therefore, will miss the traditional Rudraksha mala and a lyricism thatevokes the smell of the lush green paddy fields, Ramakrishnan’s trademarkweapons that helped him make a Goliath in Kerala politics, Comrade M.V. Raghavan,bite the dust.

Madambu Kunjukuttan: The author, famous for Bhrasht, a novel thatcriticised the Namboodiri community, is a household name in Kerala thanks to hisscreenplays, which the Leftist say have "uncomfortable embellishments of Hindusymbolisms" that have become both award-winning and commercially successfulfilms ( a whole series) directed by Jayaraj. Winning would be a tough ask for Madambu who is contesting in Kodungallur (Thrissur district) on theBJP ticket and who some say may meet thesame fate that Madahavikutty (now Kamala Surayya) met with in Thiruvananthapurammany years ago. She lost her deposit. The winds, they say, blow in Kodungallurto keep only the Red Flag flying.

"I am a Hindu Communist," says Madambu, though it is too literary a termfor the commoners' comprehension. And the mix of a politician and a writer is apotent one - the former capable of finding any meaning in a word and the latter of meaning anything by it. So like a true writer-turned-politician, Madambu, whose screenplay for Karunam (see pic above)fetched him the national award last year, has been heard saying during hiselection campaign: "I fully deserve to get the Jnanpith Award." Next youmay hear him saying: "I must be made the Chief Minister."

Punathil Kunjabdullah: He is the second author in the BJP fold. The writer of an acclaimed novel,Smarkashilakal, and a doctor by profession, Kunjabdullah’s loyalty to the BJPdoes not look strong enough, though he has stopped short of changing hisancestors: "I think my ancestors were Hindus and were converted by force,"he said.

"I chased all the parties for a ticket. It was the BJP who came with anoffer. I accepted it and that is how I am with them," Kunjabdullah was seenmaking this announcement sheepishly on a TV channel. Only to add in an apologetic tonelater: "I am attached and was attracted towards the BJP for the concern theyhave shown towards Indian values and culture."

In recent times there has been a perceptible change in the writings ofKunjabdullah who in the past has shown ample political skills. He deftly dodgedthe accusations of plagiarising several years ago. Recently in a signed articlein a leading Malayalam newspaper he had criticized the Marxist government forconstituting a jury of members from outside the state "who were alien toMalayalam aesthetics" to judge the state film awards.

An indication, perhaps, of the fact that Kunjabdullah had begun dipping hispen in saffron ink. He hopes to get elected from Beypore.

P.T. Kunjumohammed: Director of award-winning films like Magreeb andGershom, P.T. Kunjumohammed is seeking re-election from Guruvayor. But this timehis campaign faces a minor problem. Kunjumohammed who had been assured of hisseat from Guravuyur by the CPI (M) even before the party announced its list ofcandidates had begun his campaign using the drum symbol - the same one that hehad used to drown out the challenge of veteran Abdul Samad Samadani, known inKerala as ‘the man with a thousand tongues’.

Just when he had filled all the wall spaces available to him in this templetown with graffiti and posters showing his drum, there comes the Election Commission’sorder allotting the symbol to a registered political party in Meghalaya. The drumgoes out of the window taking with it the beats. Kunjumuhammad is now on thelookout for a new instrument (sorry, symbol) to play the same old tune as thechallenge in opponent P.K.K. Bawa is equally daunting.

Allay all fears, as this isn’t a difficult thing for Kunjumohammed, who nowsports a French beard. All that it requires are a few flashbacks - a salientfeature of his films. Every year when the state film awards or the list of thenational Panorama films are announced, our man cries hoarse about thediscrepancies in the selections.

MAC Ali: Malayalam Film Producer M. Ali or MAC Ali, as he is popularlyknown, is hoping that he would be second time lucky when he seeks mandate fromthe Mankada constituency as an independent with CPI (M) support. In 1966 he hadlost by a narrow margin of a thousand votes which has prompted the Marxists to puthim in the fray once again.

Not to mention the fact that he can hitch a number of cine-stars on to hiscampaign bandwagon.

Ganesh: The actor who made an impressive entry into the Malayalam filmworld with his portrayal of a disturbed youth in Padmarajan’s Irakal is now apermanent fixture on the small screen with celluloid roles drying out with time.

A maiden entry into politics from the Pathanapuram seat is only a naturalprogression for this famous son of a famous father - K Balakrishna Pillai - thelength of whose party, the Kerala Congress (B) begins and ends with Kottarakara.

The other seat in this district is being contested by none other than hisfather, whose fate was decided only on Wednesday when the returning officeraccepted his nomination, contrary to expectations. The father’s luck is likelyto extend to the son too.

Pathanapuram is a constituency dominated by the Nair community. And thanks toBalakrishna Pillai, the Nair Service Society headquarters are based, and havealways been, in Perunna in this taluk. Incidentally, Balakrishna Pillai has beenthe president of the Taluk NSS union for the last 45 years. So NSS here issynonymous with this Pillai family.

Tailpiece: Sources in the UDF say Balakrishna Pillai sought only two seatsfor his party from the UDF because his two daughters are yet to show anyinterest in politics.