(My article in The Times of India today)
Kerala's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde characteristics are
rather well-known to all who have come in contact with the captivating green
strip on India's south west corner. Sometimes you think the state is Dr Jekyll,
at other times, Mr Hyde. On Wednesday, these characteristics will be on display
together, and a third persona, the normally speechless Dr Manmohan Singh, will
croon why Kerala is a good investment destination.
The three-day Emerging Kerala meet is presented as
'an opportunity to explore, invest and establish business interests in Kerala.'
Whatever that means, what is assured is that Kerala's split personality on
investment matters will be on public display.
First, the Dr Jekyll part: Most of this
characteristic is monopolized by non-resident Keralites who have been exposed
to the infrastructure and lifestyles of a Dubai, Doha, London or New York and
they are the proponents of 'development in a hurry'. The Dr Jekyll feature is
also evident in Keralites who have worked in other parts of the country,
notably in the big metros, who are also exposed to 'development'.
The Dr Jekylls are pushing for a high-speed rail
corridor complete with a bullet train, a fourth international airport at
Aranmula immediately and a fifth one at Kannur in the near future, seaplane
services, petrochem and gas-based power projects, IT parks, engineering and
automotive units, and some more. Kerala cannot fall behind in development, they
argue.
Therein walks Kerala's formidable Mr Hyde: Many of
the Hyde personalities are home-grown, and others have come in, adequately
fortified by their intellectual pursuits or bitter experiences.
"Please could you explain what is
development?", is their opening line, and they would also want investors
to understand that Kerala had successfully saved the lion-tailed macaques of
Silent Valley from extinction by scrapping a hydel power project, and more
recently got a nuclear power station moved from Kothamangalam in Kerala to
Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu. How clever it was, they'd like to point out, now that
Keralites are watching local people in Kudankulam bear Tamil Nadu police's
lathi power, while Kerala stands to get a share of the nuke power produced
there.
If the Jekylls and Hydes could at least be clearly
identified, investors could deal with them separately. And that is what makes
the Kerala split-personality even more uniquely complicated. Investors may
think that the ruling United Democratic Front, as the host, would be the
perfect Dr Jekyll and the CPM-led Opposition Left Democratic Front Mr Hyde, but
that isn't so. In fact, the host itself has a split-personality and six of its
MLAs, drawn from the Congress, the Indian Union Muslim League and the Secular
Janata Dal have banded together as a green group within the UDF and is
cautioning against possible environmental damage that some of the projects
showcased at the meet can cause.
In contrast, the hardened Hydes have already made
their war cry against the investment meet. They want many of the projects
scrapped, and would rather have the meet after a consensus is reached on the
definition of development. Senior leaders in opposition have branded the meet a
ploy to give away revenue land to private individuals. The Hydes have planned
protests in different parts of the state, like a hartal on Wednesday in
Aranmula where an international airport is proposed, never mind that the area
has one of the highest concentrations of Kerala's international travellers.
All of that leaves chief minister Oommen Chandy
somewhat lost, as he strives to pilot the meet through the Jekylls and Hydes.
Not to risk anything, Chandy himself took an anticipatory bail, stating no MoUs
would be signed at the meet, and that it would just be an opportunity for
investors to see the potential of Kerala. Whether they will see Kerala's
investment potential or prefer to see the alluring natural beauty of the state
by taking a backwater cruise is another question, though.
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