Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani, who has long been enjoying the affection of a section of powerful media houses and senior journalists, is feeling an unprecedented heat from social media over his bar bribery charges. A fund-raising campaign is on in social media to ‘meet the greed’ of 83-year-old Mani, the chairman of Christian dominated Kerala Congress (M).
Mani is in the thick of an allegation that he had accepted bribe from bar hotel owners to renew their liquor licence. Besides, a senior ruling UDF leader had alleged that Mani had pocketed money from various business verticals after threatening them with higher tax burdens on them in budgets.
Social media has called for a new campaign “youth begging for Mani” in Kochi on January 25. This would be a begging on the street to meet the greed of Mani, says the facebook post. It claimed the youth begging would be the first anti-corruption youth movement in Kerala. The youth begging is being planned as a major event after the kiss of love held in last November.
A few days back, film director Ashiq Abu had commented on his Facebook page, saying that he was contributing Rs 500 to help our Sir, who is struggling without money for livelihood. Soon this comment turned viral and a new page ente vaka 500 (my contribution Rs 500) was created immediately, triggering hundreds of shares and likes from cyber world. There is also another page on the same vein, “donate a penny to the finance minister.’’
Now, the “entevaka 500’’ has become a campaign to protest against Mani by sending money orders to his native city Pala in Kottayam. Post office in Pala has so far got 14 money orders addressed to Mani.
According to town postmaster Roslin, “The money orders started coming on Thursday. The authorized person at the minister’s house has refused to accept the money orders, whose amount is Rs 10 or Rs 20. Hence, we would be dispatching them back to the senders. We heard that more money orders addressed to Mani would come in the coming days,” she said.
In social media, several persons have posted the photographs of currencies with a call “entevaka 500”. One post says “our finance minister is one who is robbing a beggar, hence please give something for him.”
Young film actor Anoop Chandran has posted a selfie video, which begs the minister not to quit. If he quits the post, it would be an insult to the democracy,” says the selfie video.
Many posts in the social media is also critical of the attempt of the traditional Malayalam print media to play down the corruption charges against the minister.
A senior journalist in Thiruvananthapuram observes, “Mani has been very well managing the traditional Malayalam media with the help of a few journalists close to him. Now, he is thrown to a cyber world where his traditional public relations work would not work.”
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