The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday released the names of 44 of the 51 candidates it will field in the Tripura Assembly elections. Candidates from the party s ally the Indigenous People s Front of Tripura will contest the remaining nine seats. The term of the Tripura Legislative Assembly will conclude on March 14 and polling will be held in the state on February 18. The BJP made the decision at a meeting of the party s Central Election Committee that National President Amit Shah chaired. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Home Minister Rajnath Singh Finance Minister Arun Jaitley External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj were among those who attended the meeting The Indian Express reported.BJP Central Election Committee has decided the names of 44 BJP candidates for the ensuing general elections to the Legislative Assembly of Tripura 2018. pic.twitter.com/9vNvDIw1pA BJP https://www.beautylish.com/profile/gzguvug (@BJP4India) January 27 2018 Six former Congress MLAs who in 2017 first joined the Trinamool Congress and then the BJP were named in the list. We had conducted three surveys and tickets were given on the basis of these said Tripura BJP in-charge Sunil Deodhar.
NEW DELHI: Teachers at a training institute in Madhya Pradesh s Itarsi instructed their students to take a pledge saying they will not vote for the BJP in the upcoming state assembly and Lok Sabha elections shows a video shared by news agency ANI. Prompted by a teacher the students were made to pledge that they will not support the saffron party or its workers in any manner and convince at least three other persons to take a similar pledge in the next 24 hours. The reason behind this stern edict: online examinations. Unless Modi government stops online examinations I will not vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party nor will I support a BJP worker in any way. I also pledge to encourage three more people within 24 hours to take this pledge students at Vijaylaxmi Industrial Training Institute were recorded as saying. The video was reportedly shot on January 26 when students had gathered at the institute for Republic Day festivities. The students also swore to spread awareness in their respective districts about the corruption and injustice of the BJP. Watch the video here: #WATCH Teachers of Vijaylaxmi Industrial Training Institute in Itarsi ask students to take pledge not to vote for BJP in the upcoming elections & support it in any manner until it stops online examinations #MadhyaPradesh (26.01.18) pic.twitter.com/PY3S721Mbq — ANI (@ANI) January 28 2018 Madhya Pradesh where the BJP has been in power for the last 15 years goes to polls later this year. The ruling party was engulfed in a massive controversy after the Vyapam scam was unearthed in 2013 exposing a nexus between politicians businessmen and government officials to facilitate wide-scale cheating in medical entrance exams. Following this the Professional Examination Board (PEB) of Madhya Pradesh introduced online tests. (With ANI inputs)
Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah said that the party would win by a bigger margin than it did in 2013 if the general elections were to be held today. Shah made the comments in an interview to the Hindustan Times published on Thursday.The BJP leader said that the party was looking to make gains in West Bengal Odisha and Telangana among other states. In Odisha we did well in local elections; in West Bengal the number of wards under us has increased; we have made gains in Telangana and in Kerala he said. The party had also made gains in every North Eastern state he added.Shah admitted that in Gujarat there was resentment among farmers but claimed that every two votes in the state had been cast for the party. He claimed farmers were angry because production had increased. It is our achievement that in Saurashtra where there could be just one crop there are three crops today Shah said. Increasing production may be a small problem but adjusting production is not a problem. He said the Dalit protests against the party are part of the Opposition s attempts to mobilise people from the community. The Opposition is not concerned about the welfare of Dalits he added. The Congress has always abused Ambedkar did not give him respect even after death did not give him a Bharat Ratna did not allow his photo in Parliament Shah claimed. How are they talking about it now? Dalits also understand. Democracy has matured. Shah refrained from commenting on the death of CBI judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya saying the case was pending before the Supreme Court. Asked about the legal battle between his son Jay Shah and news website The Wire Shah said he wanted the courts to get to the bottom of the matter as soon as possible. People should know before the 2019 elections what the truth is. Asked about the party s electoral promise to construct a Ram temple in Ayodhya the BJP president said a grand Ram temple will be built after the court verdict. Karnataka electionsShah said the party would contest every seat in the Karnataka Assembly elections this year on its own. Asked about the party s leader in the state BS Yeddyurappa and the corruption cases against him in the past he told Hindustan Times that the charges levelled against Yeddyurappa were quashed by the Supreme Court. I think we will certainly form the government under Yeddyurappa ji and with a better majority Shah said.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Thursday accused the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government of not taking any action in murder cases of BJP workers in the state. Claiming that at least 20 Rashtirya Swayamsevak Sangh and BJP workers have been murdered in the state in the last four years Shah who addressed the party s Parivartan Rally in Mysuru said The BJP will bring them to justice come what may after forming the government in the state. The party chief said the rally was aimed at bringing a change in the lives of the youth in the state. He added that the BJP if it comes to power in Karnataka will provide better security to the women. Karnataka is scheduled to go to polls later this year.Shah said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and corruption were two faces of the same coin reported News18. If I start counting the corruption charges against the Karnataka chief minister I won t be able to go from here said Shah. He added that the Congress was against granting constitutional status to the Other Backward Classes Commission. The Karnataka government calls itself a friend of the OBC community but when our prime minister wanted to give constitutional status to OBC Commission and bring in an amendment the Congress created obstacles at the Centre he said.BJP has started Parivartan Yatra for not only to change the government but also to bring change in the lives of youth and to give security to the women of Karnataka: BJP President Amit Shah in Mysuru pic.twitter.com/ZzZiPwjwfe ANI (@ANI) January 25 2018 Earlier in the day Shah s rally had to be postponed by more than an hour because of ongoing protests in the state against the non-implementation of the Kalasa-Banduri dam project. Farmers and some pro-Kannada groups are on a 12-hour strike from 6 am over the Mahadayi river water sharing dispute. The outfits want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the dispute between Karnataka and Goa.BJP leaders had accused the Siddaramaiah government of misusing official machinery to hold a strike on a day when the party s leaders were to campaign in the state. Karnataka BJP President BS Yeddyurappa said that the party would retaliate by observing district-specific shutdowns when Congress President Rahul Gandhi tours the state.
The Shiv Sena and the Telugu Desam Party are not the only Bharatiya Janata Party allies that are threatening to pull out of the National Democratic Alliance in the countdown to the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. Tensions are also growing between the BJP and the Janata Dal-United on the subject of seat-sharing in Bihar for the general elections.The Shiv Sena which shares power with the BJP in Maharashtra was the first to raise the banner of revolt. It passed a resolution on January 23 declaring that it will not partner the BJP either in the Lok Sabha polls or in the Assembly elections in the state also due in 2019. The resolution came as no surprise given the Shiv Sena s frequent criticism of the BJP in the recent past. Then on Saturday Telugu Desam Party chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu told media persons the alliance was in danger. Reacting to criticism of his party by BJP leaders in the state he said We are still following mitra dharma with the BJP. I am controlling my party leaders despite severe criticism from local BJP leaders. The stance taken by these two parties may have presented the Janata Dal (United) with an opportunity to take advantage of the pressure on the BJP. The party had ended a 17-year-old alliance with the BJP in 2013 over the latter s choice of Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections. But in July 2017 the Nitish Kumar-led party had walked out of a Mahagathbandhan or grand alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress to partner the BJP once again.The tremor in Bihar a stronghold of the National Democratic Alliance has been caused by the Janata Dal (United) s demand for a respectable share of seats commensurate to its status. But the BJP is not willing to offer it more than nine of the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state office-bearers of both parties said.In the ruling alliance in the state the Janata Dal (United) is the senior partner with 71 seats in the 243-member Assembly while the BJP has 52 seats.Shah fails to meet Nitish In the 2014 general elections the Janata Dal (United) had put up candidates in 38 constituencies but won only two. The BJP and its allies the Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party had grabbed 31 seats. The remaining seven constituencies had gone to the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine.For the BJP offering the Janata Dal (United) more than nine seats would mean parting with a large number of its own seats or diverting the seats held by its allies.While still a part of the National Democratic Alliance in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections the Janata Dal (United) had fielded candidates in 25 seats leaving the remaining 15 to the BJP. A similar formula was adopted in the 2004 elections. It is this very issue that Nitish Kumar wanted to discuss with BJP president Amit Shah over a week back when he visited Delhi said a senior Janata Dal (United) leader who did not wish to be identified. But Shah was busy and could not spare time for him. As a result Nitish Kumar had to return after discussing the issue with Ram Lal BJP general secretary in charge of party organisation . Direct contest with Lalu s partyFor the Janata Dal United what is even more problematic in the BJP s seat-sharing formula is that the majority of seats on offer have a formidable presence of Muslim and Yadav voters the core vote base of the Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal. While two of the seats (Purnia and Nalanda) are held by the Janata Dal (United) four (Araria Madhepura Bhagalpur and Banka) are with the Rashtriya Janata Dal two (Supaul and Kishanganj) with the Congress and one (Katihar) with the Nationalist Congress Party.For a party leading the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar the number of seats the BJP is offering is too small to be acceptable. However it is too early to say whether Nitish Kumar will surrender unconditionally to the BJP or if he will turn another somersault and leave the alliance to try his luck independent of both the BJP and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
.story-content span .story-content p .story-content div color:#000!important;font-family: open sans Arial!important;font-size:15px!important ALSO READ Sitaram Yechury Prakash Karat may clash over BJP line CPM conclave: Brace for Sitaram Yechury vs Prakash Karat battle in April CPI(M) sees conflict between Yechury Karat factions Truce in CPI(M) after Yechury camp wins current round All for Sitaram Yechury: Ghulam Nabi Azad s suggestion was tongue-in-cheek span.p-content div id = div-gpt line-height:0;font-size:0 Is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secretly celebrating the Communist Party of India (Marxist) http://www.trunity.net/profile/kkmobik/ Central Committee s veto of a pre-poll alliance with the Congress? On Sunday the CPI(M) ended a three-day Central Committee meeting where Sitaram Yechury s draft political resolution on the party s future electoral line was defeated in favour of Prakash Karat s (pictured) by 55 to 31 votes. While the BJP avoided making an official comment two comments posted by the party s IT cell chief Amit Malviya on Twitter said it all. In his first tweet Malviya said Sitaram Yechury may be the general secretary of the CPI(M) but the Karats wield all the power. Then he posted: The Left has left the Congress and so has the Samajwadi Party referring obliquely to SP President Akhilesh Yadav s recent statement that he wasn t thinking of an alliance with any party as of now.
On Sunday veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Prakash Karat persuaded members of his organsation not to enter into any understanding or alliance with the Congress a strategy advocated by the general secretary Sitaram Yechury. Awkwardly for Karat the decision has left the party in a bind in his own hometown. Palakkad where the former CPI(M) chief is from is the only municipality in Kerala ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP is the single-largest party but does not have the majority. It has been in power since 2015 because the CPI(M) has refused to join hands with the Congress to unseat the BJP chairperson of the municipality. Local party leaders argue that accepting the Congress offer would amount to deviating from the party s principled position. We can t join hands with the Congress to dislodge the BJP in Palakkad municipality the communist party s Lok Sabha member from Palakkad MB Rajesh said. That would be against our current political line. The problem is this amounts to sacrificing the party s primary objective if in a limited sense. At the Central Committee meeting on Sunday Karat and Yechury agreed that the party s main objective was to defeat the BJP; they only disagreed about whether achieving it necessitated aligning with the Congress. How will the CPI(M) negotiate this conundrum in Palakkad? We are mobilising people and building a mass movement against the BJP regime said Rajesh. Shortcuts like aligning with the Congress party to defeat the BJP in the municipality won t be good for the party in the long run. Ground realityThe Congress is even ready to accept an independent councillor as the municipality s chairperson if the CPI(M) agrees to join forces with it to unseat the BJP. The BJP does not have the majority so its rule can be ended the moment the CPI(M) and the Congress decide to do so said the Congress legislator from Palakkad Shafi Parambil. The CPI(M) just has to issue a statement. We are not claiming the chairmanship of the municipality. Both parties can even back an independent councillor to remove the BJP from Palakkad. In the election held in November 2015 the BJP won 24 of the Palakkad municipality s 52 wards while the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front together got 26. One each went to the Welfare Party and an independent. In the United Democratic Front the Congress won 13 seats and the Indian Union Muslim League four. In the Left Front the CPI(M) got six wards while three went to independent candidates backed by the party. Both the Congress and the CPI(M) fielded candidates for the post of chairperson leading to a three-way contest with the BJP s Prameela Sasidharan. Given that the opposition s votes were divided Sasidharan sailed through. Two years later with the Central Committee voting against Yechury s proposal to have a political understanding or an electoral alliance with secular parties the CPI(M) in Palakkad is clueless about how to fight the BJP which the party has identified as its prime enemy.For a party that projects itself as one committed to ideology Karat s line could be seen as the politics of principle. But in today s political context when the BJP is the country s dominant political force by some margin it might not be a practical position to take. At least that is how it appears in Palakkad.
NEW DELHI: Teachers at a training institute in Madhya Pradesh s Itarsi instructed their students to take a pledge saying they will not vote for the BJP in the upcoming state assembly and Lok Sabha elections shows a video shared by news agency ANI. Prompted by a teacher the students were made to pledge that they will not support the saffron party or its workers in any manner and convince at least three other persons to take a similar pledge in the next 24 hours. The reason behind this stern edict: online examinations. Unless Modi government stops online examinations I will not vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party nor will I support a BJP worker in any way. I also pledge to encourage three more people within 24 hours to take this pledge students at Vijaylaxmi Industrial Training Institute were recorded as saying. The video was reportedly shot on January 26 when students had gathered at the institute for Republic Day festivities. The students also swore to spread awareness in their respective districts about the corruption and injustice of the BJP. Watch the video here: #WATCH Teachers of Vijaylaxmi Industrial Training Institute in Itarsi ask students to take pledge not to vote for BJP in the upcoming elections & support it in any manner until it stops online examinations #MadhyaPradesh (26.01.18) pic.twitter.com/PY3S721Mbq — ANI (@ANI) January 28 2018 Madhya Pradesh where the BJP has been in power for the last 15 years goes to polls later this year. The ruling party was engulfed in a massive controversy after the Vyapam scam was unearthed in 2013 exposing a nexus between politicians businessmen and government officials to facilitate wide-scale cheating in medical entrance exams. Following this the Professional Examination Board (PEB) of Madhya Pradesh introduced online tests. (With ANI inputs)
Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah said that the party would win by a bigger margin than it did in 2013 if the general elections were to be held today. Shah made the comments in an interview to the Hindustan Times published on Thursday.The BJP leader said that the party was looking to make gains in West Bengal Odisha and Telangana among other states. In Odisha we did well in local elections; in West Bengal the number of wards under us has increased; we have made gains in Telangana and in Kerala he said. The party had also made gains in every North Eastern state he added.Shah admitted that in Gujarat there was resentment among farmers but claimed that every two votes in the state had been cast for the party. He claimed farmers were angry because production had increased. It is our achievement that in Saurashtra where there could be just one crop there are three crops today Shah said. Increasing production may be a small problem but adjusting production is not a problem. He said the Dalit protests against the party are part of the Opposition s attempts to mobilise people from the community. The Opposition is not concerned about the welfare of Dalits he added. The Congress has always abused Ambedkar did not give him respect even after death did not give him a Bharat Ratna did not allow his photo in Parliament Shah claimed. How are they talking about it now? Dalits also understand. Democracy has matured. Shah refrained from commenting on the death of CBI judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya saying the case was pending before the Supreme Court. Asked about the legal battle between his son Jay Shah and news website The Wire Shah said he wanted the courts to get to the bottom of the matter as soon as possible. People should know before the 2019 elections what the truth is. Asked about the party s electoral promise to construct a Ram temple in Ayodhya the BJP president said a grand Ram temple will be built after the court verdict. Karnataka electionsShah said the party would contest every seat in the Karnataka Assembly elections this year on its own. Asked about the party s leader in the state BS Yeddyurappa and the corruption cases against him in the past he told Hindustan Times that the charges levelled against Yeddyurappa were quashed by the Supreme Court. I think we will certainly form the government under Yeddyurappa ji and with a better majority Shah said.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Thursday accused the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government of not taking any action in murder cases of BJP workers in the state. Claiming that at least 20 Rashtirya Swayamsevak Sangh and BJP workers have been murdered in the state in the last four years Shah who addressed the party s Parivartan Rally in Mysuru said The BJP will bring them to justice come what may after forming the government in the state. The party chief said the rally was aimed at bringing a change in the lives of the youth in the state. He added that the BJP if it comes to power in Karnataka will provide better security to the women. Karnataka is scheduled to go to polls later this year.Shah said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and corruption were two faces of the same coin reported News18. If I start counting the corruption charges against the Karnataka chief minister I won t be able to go from here said Shah. He added that the Congress was against granting constitutional status to the Other Backward Classes Commission. The Karnataka government calls itself a friend of the OBC community but when our prime minister wanted to give constitutional status to OBC Commission and bring in an amendment the Congress created obstacles at the Centre he said.BJP has started Parivartan Yatra for not only to change the government but also to bring change in the lives of youth and to give security to the women of Karnataka: BJP President Amit Shah in Mysuru pic.twitter.com/ZzZiPwjwfe ANI (@ANI) January 25 2018 Earlier in the day Shah s rally had to be postponed by more than an hour because of ongoing protests in the state against the non-implementation of the Kalasa-Banduri dam project. Farmers and some pro-Kannada groups are on a 12-hour strike from 6 am over the Mahadayi river water sharing dispute. The outfits want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the dispute between Karnataka and Goa.BJP leaders had accused the Siddaramaiah government of misusing official machinery to hold a strike on a day when the party s leaders were to campaign in the state. Karnataka BJP President BS Yeddyurappa said that the party would retaliate by observing district-specific shutdowns when Congress President Rahul Gandhi tours the state.
The Shiv Sena and the Telugu Desam Party are not the only Bharatiya Janata Party allies that are threatening to pull out of the National Democratic Alliance in the countdown to the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. Tensions are also growing between the BJP and the Janata Dal-United on the subject of seat-sharing in Bihar for the general elections.The Shiv Sena which shares power with the BJP in Maharashtra was the first to raise the banner of revolt. It passed a resolution on January 23 declaring that it will not partner the BJP either in the Lok Sabha polls or in the Assembly elections in the state also due in 2019. The resolution came as no surprise given the Shiv Sena s frequent criticism of the BJP in the recent past. Then on Saturday Telugu Desam Party chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu told media persons the alliance was in danger. Reacting to criticism of his party by BJP leaders in the state he said We are still following mitra dharma with the BJP. I am controlling my party leaders despite severe criticism from local BJP leaders. The stance taken by these two parties may have presented the Janata Dal (United) with an opportunity to take advantage of the pressure on the BJP. The party had ended a 17-year-old alliance with the BJP in 2013 over the latter s choice of Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections. But in July 2017 the Nitish Kumar-led party had walked out of a Mahagathbandhan or grand alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress to partner the BJP once again.The tremor in Bihar a stronghold of the National Democratic Alliance has been caused by the Janata Dal (United) s demand for a respectable share of seats commensurate to its status. But the BJP is not willing to offer it more than nine of the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state office-bearers of both parties said.In the ruling alliance in the state the Janata Dal (United) is the senior partner with 71 seats in the 243-member Assembly while the BJP has 52 seats.Shah fails to meet Nitish In the 2014 general elections the Janata Dal (United) had put up candidates in 38 constituencies but won only two. The BJP and its allies the Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party had grabbed 31 seats. The remaining seven constituencies had gone to the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine.For the BJP offering the Janata Dal (United) more than nine seats would mean parting with a large number of its own seats or diverting the seats held by its allies.While still a part of the National Democratic Alliance in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections the Janata Dal (United) had fielded candidates in 25 seats leaving the remaining 15 to the BJP. A similar formula was adopted in the 2004 elections. It is this very issue that Nitish Kumar wanted to discuss with BJP president Amit Shah over a week back when he visited Delhi said a senior Janata Dal (United) leader who did not wish to be identified. But Shah was busy and could not spare time for him. As a result Nitish Kumar had to return after discussing the issue with Ram Lal BJP general secretary in charge of party organisation . Direct contest with Lalu s partyFor the Janata Dal United what is even more problematic in the BJP s seat-sharing formula is that the majority of seats on offer have a formidable presence of Muslim and Yadav voters the core vote base of the Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal. While two of the seats (Purnia and Nalanda) are held by the Janata Dal (United) four (Araria Madhepura Bhagalpur and Banka) are with the Rashtriya Janata Dal two (Supaul and Kishanganj) with the Congress and one (Katihar) with the Nationalist Congress Party.For a party leading the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar the number of seats the BJP is offering is too small to be acceptable. However it is too early to say whether Nitish Kumar will surrender unconditionally to the BJP or if he will turn another somersault and leave the alliance to try his luck independent of both the BJP and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
.story-content span .story-content p .story-content div color:#000!important;font-family: open sans Arial!important;font-size:15px!important ALSO READ Sitaram Yechury Prakash Karat may clash over BJP line CPM conclave: Brace for Sitaram Yechury vs Prakash Karat battle in April CPI(M) sees conflict between Yechury Karat factions Truce in CPI(M) after Yechury camp wins current round All for Sitaram Yechury: Ghulam Nabi Azad s suggestion was tongue-in-cheek span.p-content div id = div-gpt line-height:0;font-size:0 Is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secretly celebrating the Communist Party of India (Marxist) http://www.trunity.net/profile/kkmobik/ Central Committee s veto of a pre-poll alliance with the Congress? On Sunday the CPI(M) ended a three-day Central Committee meeting where Sitaram Yechury s draft political resolution on the party s future electoral line was defeated in favour of Prakash Karat s (pictured) by 55 to 31 votes. While the BJP avoided making an official comment two comments posted by the party s IT cell chief Amit Malviya on Twitter said it all. In his first tweet Malviya said Sitaram Yechury may be the general secretary of the CPI(M) but the Karats wield all the power. Then he posted: The Left has left the Congress and so has the Samajwadi Party referring obliquely to SP President Akhilesh Yadav s recent statement that he wasn t thinking of an alliance with any party as of now.
On Sunday veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Prakash Karat persuaded members of his organsation not to enter into any understanding or alliance with the Congress a strategy advocated by the general secretary Sitaram Yechury. Awkwardly for Karat the decision has left the party in a bind in his own hometown. Palakkad where the former CPI(M) chief is from is the only municipality in Kerala ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP is the single-largest party but does not have the majority. It has been in power since 2015 because the CPI(M) has refused to join hands with the Congress to unseat the BJP chairperson of the municipality. Local party leaders argue that accepting the Congress offer would amount to deviating from the party s principled position. We can t join hands with the Congress to dislodge the BJP in Palakkad municipality the communist party s Lok Sabha member from Palakkad MB Rajesh said. That would be against our current political line. The problem is this amounts to sacrificing the party s primary objective if in a limited sense. At the Central Committee meeting on Sunday Karat and Yechury agreed that the party s main objective was to defeat the BJP; they only disagreed about whether achieving it necessitated aligning with the Congress. How will the CPI(M) negotiate this conundrum in Palakkad? We are mobilising people and building a mass movement against the BJP regime said Rajesh. Shortcuts like aligning with the Congress party to defeat the BJP in the municipality won t be good for the party in the long run. Ground realityThe Congress is even ready to accept an independent councillor as the municipality s chairperson if the CPI(M) agrees to join forces with it to unseat the BJP. The BJP does not have the majority so its rule can be ended the moment the CPI(M) and the Congress decide to do so said the Congress legislator from Palakkad Shafi Parambil. The CPI(M) just has to issue a statement. We are not claiming the chairmanship of the municipality. Both parties can even back an independent councillor to remove the BJP from Palakkad. In the election held in November 2015 the BJP won 24 of the Palakkad municipality s 52 wards while the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front together got 26. One each went to the Welfare Party and an independent. In the United Democratic Front the Congress won 13 seats and the Indian Union Muslim League four. In the Left Front the CPI(M) got six wards while three went to independent candidates backed by the party. Both the Congress and the CPI(M) fielded candidates for the post of chairperson leading to a three-way contest with the BJP s Prameela Sasidharan. Given that the opposition s votes were divided Sasidharan sailed through. Two years later with the Central Committee voting against Yechury s proposal to have a political understanding or an electoral alliance with secular parties the CPI(M) in Palakkad is clueless about how to fight the BJP which the party has identified as its prime enemy.For a party that projects itself as one committed to ideology Karat s line could be seen as the politics of principle. But in today s political context when the BJP is the country s dominant political force by some margin it might not be a practical position to take. At least that is how it appears in Palakkad.
