KOZHIKODE: BJP state president K Surendran on Sunday said only the BJP and NDA made gains in the local body polls. "NDA garnered more than 35.75 lakh votes in the state, including the ones cast in municipalities and district panchayat divisions. BJP achieved great success in Palakkad municipality," he told reporters here on Sunday.
"We have taken over Pandalam municipality. We lost one seat each in Kodungallur and Varkala. BJP has representatives in almost all the municipalities in Kerala except a few in Malappuram, which is dominated by the Muslim League," he said.
He said that instead of a triangular contest in all areas, BJP was in direct competition with either of the two fronts. "NDA came second in 2,800 seats. BJP came second with a narrow margin in 1,200 seats as the LDF and UDF joined hands to defeat it," he said.
He said in Kuyali ward of Thalassery municipality, CPM’s stronghold, the NDA candidate lost to the UDF’s contestant by 34 votes while the LDF candidate got only 70 votes. He alleged the CPM members voted for UDF there.
"Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala was at the helm of the LDF-UDF alliance to defeat BJP. He should clarify whether he will oppose the LDF in his own panchayat. The two fronts are joining hands to prevent the BJP from coming to power in the panchayat. The BJP is the leading party in Kodamthuruth, Pandanad, Thiruvananthapuram and Chennithala panchayats in Chennithala’s home district of Alappuzha. Here, UDF is going to rule with LDF," he said.
He reminded the UDF that partnering with the LDF would have far-reaching repercussions. "The Congress will be committing political suicide through such a move," he said.
'No connection between results, gold smuggling probe'
KOZHIKODE: Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Sunday said the investigation into the gold smuggling case will continue. "The people of Kerala have not given a clean chit to the government through the local body elections. There is no link between the elections and the investigation agencies. If giving clean chit was based on elections, the LDF government should have stepped down after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections," he said in Kozhikode.
He said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had initially claimed that M Sivasankar, his former principal secretary, had nothing to do with the case. "Pinarayi is still protecting Sivasankar," he alleged . He said the election verdict was in BJP’s favour.