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The upbeat mood among the eight-member United Democratic Front partners on their victory over the Left Democratic Front may be short-lived as an intense power struggle began between the veteran Congress leaders A K Antony and K Karunakaran.
The crux of the matter is who will be the next chief minister.
"If offered the post of chief ministership, I will accept it," Karunakaran told rediff.com in one of his first comments on the elections results on Sunday.
Though it was widely acknowledged that Antony has been projected as the chief ministerial candidate during the election campaign, Karunakaran said, "It is wrong to interpret that any leader has so far been projected as the chief minister."
"Let the Congress MLAs who have won the election decide who will be the next chief minister. I am sure the Congress will select the right person," Karunakaran said.
He stated that all leaders in the state unit will "abide by the decisions of Congress President Sonia Gandhi. But I expect the Congress high command to be fair in its decision," Karunakaran warned.
Congress leaders admit that naming the next chief minister will be one of the many ticklish problems that Sonia Gandhi will face in Kerala.
On the face of it, Antony, who was leader of the Opposition in the last five years, was projected as the chief ministerial candidate.
But Karunakaran, who raised a banner of revolt in the party and resigned from CWC in protest against denial of a ticket to his daughter Padmaja Venugopal on eve of elections, is back with his old game-plan.
The plan is to ensure that in the case of Antony being elected chief minister, his son, K Muralidharan, is made the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president.
Karunakaran's supporters claim that they will not accept any high command decision "if it does not give importance to his group".
"We had been assured during the poll that both Congress factions will be considered equally if the party wins the elections. Now that we have won, I am sure there will be fair-play," V S Shivakumar, MP and a close Karunakaran aide, told rediff.com.
"The leader who gets the majority support from the MLAs will be the chief minister," said a Congress leader.
Many believe that Antony will manage to get the chief ministership as he is said to have the upper hand among the newly-elected MLAs. Moreover, Antony has the blessings of Sonia Gandhi.
But in order to ensure that Karunakaran does not create problems, Muralidharan may be appointed state unit president.
"The chief ministership for Antony and party presidentship for Muralidharan could be a fairly good settlement to ensure that the UDF remains united," said a Congress insider.
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