The left has called this an open challenge to democracy and an attempt by the BJP to replicate what happened in Puducherry.
In February, Kerala’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief K Surendran said his party only needed 35-40 seats to form a government in Kerala. In the past week, just days before the Kerala elections scheduled for April 6, Surendran repeated the same claim while speaking to Asianet News. He said that the BJP would rule the state if they won 35 seats and further stated that many leaders were dissatisfied with the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front.
A party needs a simple majority of 71 seats to form government in the 140-member State Assembly. The BJP state president said he was confident of forming a government with fewer seats as members of other parties would help him. “No one in Kerala has any doubts that we would form a government if we won 35 seats. Many of those who sit on those two fronts (LDF and UDF) are not happy. They have no other choice. In Congress too, there are many (who are dissatisfied), “he told Asianet News’ Sindhu Sooryakumar.
When asked why no MLA Congress had joined the BJP yet if that was the case, Surendran said it would happen after the May 2 election results. “In Congress, many are waiting. They are not happy with the front,” he added. .
Responding to a question about mimicking what happened at Puducherry in Kerala and if he thought it was good democratic practice, Surendran did not directly answer the question and repeated that many would voluntarily join the NDA, if 35 seats were won.
Several MLAs in Congress had resigned in Puducherry, allegedly at the behest of the BJP, and the government had collapsed. “The BJP has been using unethical means and taking the help of investigative agencies to overthrow governments. They want to destabilize governments led by opposition parties by hook or by crook. They don’t allow elected governments to function, ”Dinesh Gundu Rao, the congressional affairs manager in Puducherry and former Karnataka MLA, told the media after the government collapsed in Puducherry.
He also alleged that many of the lawmakers were personally threatened by Interior Minister Amit Shah. After the resignation of six MLAs, the government led by V Narayanasamy collapsed and he resigned as Chief Minister. In a year, this was the second defeat for Congress, as something similar happened in Madhya Pradesh in March.
In Surendran’s words, the Kerala BJP expects a similar move in the state. “We have seen workers at the local level of Congress join the BJP. Similarly, there will also be discontent at the top. We are good to accept MLA from other fronts. So if we can get some seats, there is this possibility,” said one leader Nemom’s local BJP, the only constituency where the party has power in the state today.
Surendran’s statement has sparked a dispute, with left-wing parties in Kerala calling it undemocratic.
“They are planning a Puducherry model here. This is what they did in Puducherry and Madhya Pradesh. They think they can buy MLAs from Congress with money. It is a challenge to democracy,” MB Rajesh, former CPI MP, said. to TNM.
It was in March 2020 that the Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh collapsed after 22 MLA resigned from the Assembly. Many of them were loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia and were re-elected in subsequent bye polls on BJP entries. In 2014, Madhya Pradesh became the fifth state where the BJP changed its status from minority party to majority.
Also in Karnataka, the BJP initially won 104 seats in the 2018 Assembly elections, while Congress and JD (S) had 120 MLAs on their side. JD (S) head HD Kumaraswamy was sworn in as Chief Minister, but 14 months later 17 Congress and JD (S) MLA resigned and the government collapsed. The Yediyurappa-led party then contacted various coalition and independent lawmakers and succeeded in forming the government.
In 2017, in Manipur, BJP had won 21 seats in the 60-member Assembly and Congress won 28 seats. But the BJP formed a government with the support of four MLAs from its ally National People’s Party, another five MLAs from regional parties, and one MLA from Congress.
In 2014, in Arunachal Pradesh, Congress won a majority of 44 seats. Following this, Pema Khandu, a Congressional MLA who was also the son of two-time Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, left the party with an MLA group and formed the People’s Party of Arunachal Pradesh (PPA). Later, the party joined the BJP-led Northeast Democratic Alliance. In 2016, he returned to Congress with his MLAs and became a CM. He later returned to the PPA with 33 MLA from Congress. He then formally joined the BJP and took the 33 MLA with him. In 2019, the BJP managed to win 41 of 60 seats and Khandu formed the government. Congress then won only four seats.
Show us some love and support our journalism by becoming a member of TNM – Click here.
.
