Just when the ruling NDA might fall short by one councillor, the UDF is considering a no-confidence motion against the ruling BJP-led NDA in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
Such a potentially disruptive political move has been set in motion right after the chaotic events that took place after 19 BJP councillors retook their oath after the High Court on June 24 ruled that their original oaths, taken in the name of various Hindu deities, were invalid.
One of the BJP councillors who have been asked to repeat his oath, Vazhottukonam councillor R Sugathan, has not been able to do so as he is in the high security Viyyur Central Jail in Thrissur. Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA) has been slapped on him. Official records show that 19 criminal cases have bene charged against him. Charges include attempted murder, rioting and criminal intimidation.
With Sugathan in jail, and still not sworn in like the other 19 BJP councillors, the BJP-led NDA is one short of the majority mark of 51 in the Corporation Council. It is the support of an independent, Pattoor councillor Pattoor Radhakrishnan, that has given the BJP majority in the Council. The other independent, Poundukadavu councillor Sudheesh Kumar, is with the LDF.
The LDF councillors in the Council are on a war path alleging that the latest round of swearing in was carried out violating Rules. It was their blockade of the Mayor’s chamber that led to a showdown between LDF and BJP councillors inside the Corporation building on June 25. 15 councillors including Mayor V V Rajesh and deputy mayor Ashanath were hospitalised.
The UDF calls this a farce. “There has been administrative paralysis in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation ever since this Council assumed office,” the Congress councillor K S Sabarinadhan said. He said the seeming CPM-BJP hostility is just for public consumption.
“They are just playing politics. Sugathan had attended council meetings held before the results were out, when the CPM was in power, even though he was a wanted man” he said, and added: “It was the UDF government that had the sincerity to slap KAAPA on Sugathan and put him behind bars.”
The Council is scheduled to meet on June 29. If the UDF moves the no-confidence motion on that day with the support of the LDF, the ruling BJP could be in trouble. Meantime, the BJP is trying to secure a court order to get Sugathan temporarily released so that he could be sworn in, and if need be participate in the no-confidence motion.
Even if the BJP is unable to produce Sugathan, the no-confidence motion is highly unlikely to get the LDF support. Certain LDF councillors Onmanorama talked to said that it would be politically suicidal to support a no-confidence motion at this stage.
“It will clearly look like opportunistic politics and the BJP will play the victim card and reap political dividends in future,” a CPI councillor said on the condition of anonymity.
For the no-confidence motion to be allowed, the Kerala Municipality Act says that it should be signed by not less than one-third of the sanctioned strength of the Council. In Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, with a sanctioned strength of 101, the motion should have the signatures of 33 councillors. The UDF has just 19 members.
A final decision on the no-confidence motion will be taken at the UDF parliamentary party meeting that will be held later in the day.
