Kerala FM unhappy with top former bureaucrat Abraham

Thiruvananthapuram: A battle royale is in the offing in Kerala with State Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal raising a banter against former Chief Secretary and present Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan -- K.M. Abraham.

According to sources, Balagopal has approached his party saying it’s high time that Abraham’s wings are clipped, even when he knows that it would be rubbing Vijayan, the wrong way.

Flamboyant in nature and the final word in all financial matters, Abraham has been having a free run starting from the first Pinarayi Vijayan government in 2016 and was known for his closeness with economist-turned-two-time CPI-M Finance Minister Thomas Isaac.

Abraham’s stock rose hugely when as a full-time SEBI member during 2008-11, his efforts saw the Sahara India Pariwar being tied up in knots and the Supreme Court upheld his judgment against the then high-flying Sahara Group.

After his retirement as Chief Secretary, he was handpicked by Vijayan and after his elevation as the CM’s chief principal secretary, he was given the cabinet rank too.

Balagopal has been facing the flak ever since he replaced Isaac, who was not given the green signal to contest a record straight fifth time as legislator, soon after Vijayan won a second successive term in 2021.

Balagopal was handpicked by Vijayan as the Finance Minister when he had no previous experience in governance. He had only represented a full term in the Upper House starting in 2010.

While Isaac and Abraham gelled well, the duo was largely instrumental in reshaping the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), the principal funding arm of the Kerala government.

During Isaac’s term as Minister (2016-21), the duo successfully dealt with both Congress-led UDF and BJP slamming KIIFB and the way it was run.

The present grouse of Balagopal is following the Lok Sabha debacle suffered by Vijayan, when it was able to win just one seat of the 20 Lok Sabha seats. There was a massive outburst in the manner Balagopal handled the state finances as compared to his predecessor Isaac and that comparison hurt him badly.

Incidentally at the CPI-M party stock-taking meeting of the Lok Sabha debacle, Balagopal even offered to quit taking the moral responsibility, but the party leadership asked him to cool down.

Now with Balagopal expressing his ire against Abraham to the party bosses, all eyes are on if Abraham will be reined in as the party is giving Balagopal a clean chit.