The outcome of the Lok Sabha polls, in which the ruling LDF faced a rout and the BJP was able to bag a seat for the first time in Kerala, prompted the opposition on Tuesday to demand in the assembly for Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s resignation — which he duly rejected.The Kerala Legislative Assembly witnessed a heated exchange between the chief minister and Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan over the Lok Sabha polls.
Referring to the opposition’s demand for his resignation, Vijayan attacked the Congress-led front saying that if a poor show in the general elections was the criteria, then the chief ministers of some Congress-ruled states, such as Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, too will have to resign.
The Kerala CM, while acknowledging the LDF’s defeat in the general elections, said that despite winning 18 out of the 20 LS seats in the state, the UDF lost more votes than the Left, especially in Thrissur, as compared to the results in 2019.
Satheesan, on the other hand, said it was the LDF that was responsible for the BJP winning the central Kerala LS seat, as the saffron party took the lead in many assembly constituencies in Thrissur that were held by the Left.
“There was an unholy nexus between the BJP and the LDF in Kerala,” Satheesan alleged.
