THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The BJP state leadership has decided to launch an agitation demanding Chief Minister V D Satheesan’s resignation over his participation in the Rahul Gandhi-led protests against the Election Commission in Delhi. The party alleged that the protest sought to undermine the very electoral system through which the Satheesan-led UDF government came to power.
The party would also campaign across Kerala to counter what he described as “false propaganda” led by Rahul Gandhi against the Election Commission and to expose the Congress’ alleged double standards. The decisions were taken at the first state core group and state leadership meetings held after the appointment of BJP national vice-president M Nagaraja as Keralam in-charge and M Venkatesan as co-in-charge.
Briefing reporters on the decisions taken at the meetings, BJP state general secretary M T Ramesh said Satheesan had no moral right to continue as chief minister if he questioned the credibility of the electoral process through which he himself was elected.
“If the electoral system cannot be trusted and the elections conducted under the present Election Commission cannot be accepted, the first thing Rahul Gandhi should do is ask V D Satheesan to resign,” Ramesh said. He said the BJP would raise the demand both inside and outside the assembly. He challenged Satheesan either to resign or clarify that his statement supporting the Delhi protest and Rahul Gandhi’s position was wrong.
The BJP also questioned the Congress’ position on elections in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Ramesh asked whether Rahul Gandhi accepted the Kerala election results and the electoral process in Tamil Nadu, where the Congress is now allied with the ruling TVK. “If Rahul Gandhi does not accept the electoral process, he should say so,” Ramesh said, accusing the Congress of adopting “double standards” on the Election Commission.
The BJP leadership resolved that the four-month-old Satheesan government was merely a repetition of the previous Pinarayi Vijayan government and said the BJP would organise protests highlighting its alleged failures, broken promises, U-turns, health-sector issues and problems concerning PSC recruitment. The leadership meeting also reviewed the party’s month-long Seva Sankalp Abhiyan and also discussed the prevailing political situation in Keralam.
BJP BEGINS GROUNDWORK FOR MISSION 2029
T’Puram: The BJP’s state core committee on Thursday decided to carry preliminary organisational activities under ‘Mission 2029’, the party’s roadmap for making a major advance in Keralam in the next Lok Sabha elections. The core committee was meeting for the first time after M Nagaraja and M Venkatesan took charge as the party’s Kerala in-charge and co-in-charge, respectively.
“We are moving forward with a three-year roadmap. The preliminary activities required to make a major advance in Kerala in the 2029 parliamentary elections have now begun,” party leader M T Ramesh said. He said the newly appointed in-charges had also given directions and suggestions for carrying out the preliminary activities.
Meanwhile, sources said a proposal was mooted at the meeting, reportedly by the V Muraleedharan faction, to include Thiruvananthapuram Mayor V V Rajesh in the state core committee. The move, according to the sources, was aimed at facilitating better coordination between the party’s top leadership and the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation ruled by the party. Senior party leaders, however, did not confirm the proposal.