Can self-respecting Congressmen tolerate League's meddling in Congress affairs: BJP MLA V Muraleedharan

Kazhakuttom MLA and former BJP state president V Muraleedharan on Tuesday ridiculed what he termed as the Muslim League's "unsolicited advice" to the Congress on who its Chief Minister should be.

"The Muslim League had called on the AICC observers and gave its opinion on who should be the CM without even being asked. The observers came to collect the opinion of the Congress MLAs but the League walked in uninvited and offered unsolicited advice," the former union minister said in Thiruvananthapuram while taking part in the Leader's Vision programme organised by the Press Club. 

The reality, however, is contrary to what Muraleedharan presented. The Muslim League did not crash the party, its delegation met the AICC observers after being invited. 

"I have nothing against the Muslim League interfering in the selection of a Congress CM but self-respecting Congress leaders should reflect on whether their party has become beholden to the League. If at all there are any dignified Congressmen left, this is all I have to tell them," Muraleedharan said. 

The BJP MLA was asked about his earlier comment that the Education Department should not be given to the Muslim League. Muraleedharan responded that his earlier remarks were not properly understood. Nonetheless, even his clarification had a communal ring to it.

"When a political leader makes a statement, read that statement in its entirety or listen to it clearly," he said. "When I was asked about the Muslim League's demands by a news channel, I told them that I am not the person to respond to this because these are decisions to be taken by the concerned political parties, especially the Congress. Allocation of portfolios is the prerogative of the Chief Minister. However, I said that Congress should consider whether it was appropriate to give the League the Education Department," the BJP MLA said. 

He insisted that the remark attributed to him and what he actually said were different. "I did not say that the League should be deprived of the portfolio, only that Congress should take a call on whether such a move was advisable," he said.

Evidently, exploiting the Congress-League brotherhood to polarise Kerala would be a major political agenda of the BJP.

Muraleedharan also criticised the delay in finding a CM. "Five states had gone to polls and in four of them a new government has either been sworn in or a date has been fixed for the swearing in. But Kerala is still waiting," he said, and added, "This internal squabbling is one reason why voters are reluctant to hand over the reins of power to the Congress. The party has not been able to find a leader even after securing such a huge mandate."

Fact is, the BJP too has not picked its parliamentary party leader. "The party has still not taken a decision," Muraleedharan conceded. "This needs to be decided only when the Assembly is convened. By then, it will be announced," he said. The BJP legislature committee has also not been convened as yet. Besides Muraleedharan, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and B Gopakumar will be the BJP members in the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly, its largest contingent yet.

In Bengal, the BJP came to power within 10 years of securing three seats in the Assembly. Now that the party has three seats in Kerala, Muraleedharan was asked how long it would take for the BJP to come to power in Kerala. "In double quick time than in Bengal," he said.