New Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has decided to keep leaders of two UDF partners — T.M. Jacob and R. Balakrishna Pillai — out of his ministry, sending out a clear message that he really means business.It is a signal to the allies that unlike his predecessor A.K. Antony, who adopted a soft approach towards his detractors within and outside the Congress, the Chief Minister won’t let any troublesome partner get away without appropriate action being taken against him.Chandy, who is scheduled to expand his ministry on Sunday, told reporters after a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi here today that the list of Congress representatives in his team had been finalised. Their names would be announced at Thiruvananthapuram tomorrow. The total number of ministers in his team is likely to cross 20.When asked about Jacob and Pillai, who lead splinter factions of the Kerala Congress, identified by their initials, Chandy said: ‘‘They will not be inducted for the time being.’’ As for the future, he said nothing was permanent in politics.Both Jacob and Pillai had been accused of engineering the defeat of UDF candidates in the last Lok Sabha elections, in the Muvattupuzha and Adoor constituencies respectively.Jacob and Pillai have their own pockets of influence. Jacob has a hold over the Christian peasantry in his area, while Pillai is the son of a big feudal landlord, having inherited his clout in and around his constituency. Earlier, Pillai had relinqished ministership after he came under a cloud in a scandal. While doing so, he had bargained for his substitution by his son, Ganesh Kumar, an actor-cum-MLA, in the ministry.The son readily made way for Pillai once his name was cleared by an inquiry. There are reports indicating that the father and son have of late fallen out, and it is possible that Ganesh will fill the vacuum caused by Pillai’s ouster.The allegations of sabotage during the polls aside, Pillai had given a tough time to the Congress by regularly sniping at it on some pretext or the other.
