01-25-2009, 06:48 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-Swamy G+Jan 24 2009, 06:47 AM-->QUOTE(Swamy G @ Jan 24 2009, 06:47 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->First thing, Dina Malar is not in my list.[right][snapback]93707[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Sorry, my bad.
See final paragraph
http://haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?P...093&SKIN=K
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Tom Vadakkan: Overused broom or vacuum cleaner?</b>
25/01/2009 04:27:12Â
Pioneer News Service | Thirssur
What is the difference between a broom and a vacuum cleaner? As far as sane persons are concerned, a vacuum cleaner is something more than a mechanised broom. But in the political scene of Thrissur, cultural capital of Kerala, a broom or vacuum cleaner could refer to Tom Vadakkan, convener of the media cell of the All-India Congress Committee.
As an intense battle was on in the Kerala unit of the Congress party over how many seats each of the several groups in the party would bet to contest in the coming Lok Sabha election, and who all could be cleared for candidature, the question of brooms contesting polls came up in Thrissur from the mouth of none other than CN Balakrishnan, District Congress Committee president and veteran leader.
Balakrishnan, known simply as CN to his friends and foes alike, fired a salvo right at Tom Vadakkan, who had reportedly been spending buckets of money here for the past five years with the singular objective of representing Thrissur in the Lok Sabha by calling him an overused broom (Kuttichool), though indirectly. Vadakkan responded saying he was not an overused broom but a vacuum cleaner.
Asked about the reports of Tom Vadakkan coming all the way down from the AICC office in Delhi to contest the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat, CN pointed out to newsmen the other day that Defence Minister and Congress Working Committee member AK Antony had already promised that no Kuttichools would be given tickets in the coming election.
He quoted Antony as saying that the yardstick for candidature this time would be personal integrity and winnability, implying that Vadakkan might not have any of these qualifications. CN, once known as a close confidante of veteran leader K Karunakaran, is said to harbour no passion for exaggerated popularity and Malayalees who spoke Manglish, a kind of language which is neither Malayalam nor English.
Thrissur is a place where the Congress is divided into several camps, and CNâs comment evoked immediate response from the loyalists of Tom Vadakkan. DCC general secretary PS Srinivasan was furious when he said nobody expected CN, a leader who had several decades of his life to the Congress party, should not have spoken so cheaply.
He said that Balakrishnanâs arrogance had grown several times when the party was forced to re-appoint him as president of the district unit after eight months of work without a head. âThis arrogance has made him bold enough to say whatever he feels is right,â adding that they would approach the central leadership against such impertinence.
The battle suddenly became obvious and affected party programmes, with a pre-scheduled State-wide siege on district collectorates to protest the LDF Governmentâs policies becoming a mere dharna in Thrissur. CN, who inaugurated the programme, said they had mellowed the protest as the Congressmen in Thrissur believed in peaceful forms of protest which Mahatma Gandhi had adopted to win freedom for the country from the British.
Vadakkan, who had already done all the liaison works to ensure the Thrissur seat for him, was late by a day to reach here, but he lost no time in launching the counter-attack on CN. In his Malayalam, over-laced with English, he met newsmen on Saturday while CN went around more substantial political exercise of meeting middle and lower level leaders.
The AICC media cell convener did not forget to threaten the veteran leader saying disciplinary action against the Thrissur leader was quite possible as he had used bad word against him. Vadakkan said some people from outside Thrissur, who were interested in the Thrissur seat, were behind the Kuttichool (overused broom) qualifier used against him.
Proving that he was not good at use of language, Vadakkan told newsmen, âI am not a Kuttichool but a vacuum cleaner, determined to clean up Thrissur,â the meaning of which escaped even his own loyalists. âI have come here to clean this place, no? So that s what I am going to do,â he said.
<b>Vadakkan said that nobody could prevent him from contesting the Thrissur seat, of course, provided the high command permitted him.</b> âThe people behind this Kuttichool controversy are from outside Thrissur. I am a Thrissurian, and our family has been here for the past one hundred years,â he claimed.
<b>Later, he visited Mar Andrews Thazahath, Archbishop, Roman Catholic Church, known as the religious strongman of central Kerala, causing instant apprehensions among the Vadakkan-loyalists that there could now be a religious in the political battle of Thrissur.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
See final paragraph
http://haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?P...093&SKIN=K
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Tom Vadakkan: Overused broom or vacuum cleaner?</b>
25/01/2009 04:27:12Â
Pioneer News Service | Thirssur
What is the difference between a broom and a vacuum cleaner? As far as sane persons are concerned, a vacuum cleaner is something more than a mechanised broom. But in the political scene of Thrissur, cultural capital of Kerala, a broom or vacuum cleaner could refer to Tom Vadakkan, convener of the media cell of the All-India Congress Committee.
As an intense battle was on in the Kerala unit of the Congress party over how many seats each of the several groups in the party would bet to contest in the coming Lok Sabha election, and who all could be cleared for candidature, the question of brooms contesting polls came up in Thrissur from the mouth of none other than CN Balakrishnan, District Congress Committee president and veteran leader.
Balakrishnan, known simply as CN to his friends and foes alike, fired a salvo right at Tom Vadakkan, who had reportedly been spending buckets of money here for the past five years with the singular objective of representing Thrissur in the Lok Sabha by calling him an overused broom (Kuttichool), though indirectly. Vadakkan responded saying he was not an overused broom but a vacuum cleaner.
Asked about the reports of Tom Vadakkan coming all the way down from the AICC office in Delhi to contest the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat, CN pointed out to newsmen the other day that Defence Minister and Congress Working Committee member AK Antony had already promised that no Kuttichools would be given tickets in the coming election.
He quoted Antony as saying that the yardstick for candidature this time would be personal integrity and winnability, implying that Vadakkan might not have any of these qualifications. CN, once known as a close confidante of veteran leader K Karunakaran, is said to harbour no passion for exaggerated popularity and Malayalees who spoke Manglish, a kind of language which is neither Malayalam nor English.
Thrissur is a place where the Congress is divided into several camps, and CNâs comment evoked immediate response from the loyalists of Tom Vadakkan. DCC general secretary PS Srinivasan was furious when he said nobody expected CN, a leader who had several decades of his life to the Congress party, should not have spoken so cheaply.
He said that Balakrishnanâs arrogance had grown several times when the party was forced to re-appoint him as president of the district unit after eight months of work without a head. âThis arrogance has made him bold enough to say whatever he feels is right,â adding that they would approach the central leadership against such impertinence.
The battle suddenly became obvious and affected party programmes, with a pre-scheduled State-wide siege on district collectorates to protest the LDF Governmentâs policies becoming a mere dharna in Thrissur. CN, who inaugurated the programme, said they had mellowed the protest as the Congressmen in Thrissur believed in peaceful forms of protest which Mahatma Gandhi had adopted to win freedom for the country from the British.
Vadakkan, who had already done all the liaison works to ensure the Thrissur seat for him, was late by a day to reach here, but he lost no time in launching the counter-attack on CN. In his Malayalam, over-laced with English, he met newsmen on Saturday while CN went around more substantial political exercise of meeting middle and lower level leaders.
The AICC media cell convener did not forget to threaten the veteran leader saying disciplinary action against the Thrissur leader was quite possible as he had used bad word against him. Vadakkan said some people from outside Thrissur, who were interested in the Thrissur seat, were behind the Kuttichool (overused broom) qualifier used against him.
Proving that he was not good at use of language, Vadakkan told newsmen, âI am not a Kuttichool but a vacuum cleaner, determined to clean up Thrissur,â the meaning of which escaped even his own loyalists. âI have come here to clean this place, no? So that s what I am going to do,â he said.
<b>Vadakkan said that nobody could prevent him from contesting the Thrissur seat, of course, provided the high command permitted him.</b> âThe people behind this Kuttichool controversy are from outside Thrissur. I am a Thrissurian, and our family has been here for the past one hundred years,â he claimed.
<b>Later, he visited Mar Andrews Thazahath, Archbishop, Roman Catholic Church, known as the religious strongman of central Kerala, causing instant apprehensions among the Vadakkan-loyalists that there could now be a religious in the political battle of Thrissur.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->