On Wednesday, the cabinet requested Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to convene the 12th session of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly from October 4 onwards, setting the ground for a protracted legislative duel with profound political implications for the ruling front and the Oopposition.
The upcoming session foreshadows the impending by-elections in the Chelakkara Assembly constituency and the Wayanad Lok Sabha segment.
The LDF and UDF have several smouldering controversies to square off in the Assembly, though the political climate is in constant flux and highly susceptible to change in the coming weeks.
For one, they could vigorously debate LDF Independent legislator P.V. Anvar’s bombshell accusations of corruption and criminality against the top law enforcement officials.
A top law enforcer’s allegedly clandestine meetings with the top RSS leadership and the Enforcement Directorate’s “suspiciously quick backpedalling” on investigations against CPI(M) leaders” as a quid pro quo for CPI(M) help in the Lok Sabha polls will likely provide sensational grist for the UDF to scourge the LDF in the Assembly.
The government’s alleged inaction on the findings of the 2019 K Hema Committee report, which documented sexual predation, gender discrimination and workplace harassment in the Malayalam film industry, has the potential to render the session tumultuous, given the High Court’s damning observation that the administration apathy seemed “alarmingly lethargic.”
The controversy over the “inflated estimation” of the expense of the relief and rescue operations in landslides-hit Wayanad might also evolve as a point of fierce contention between the opposing fronts.
Both sides’ attempts to read the political tea leaves regarding the BJP’s startling ascendancy in the Lok Sabha polls appear to have no end.
The conjecturing will likely trigger blame games in the House, as in the past Budget session, despite both sides being openly sceptical about whether the Lok Sabha results are a reliable bellwether of Kerala’s voting behaviour in the byelections and beyond.
The CPI(M) had attributed the right-wing drift in backward-class votes and Congress’s alleged connivance to the BJP’s startling rise in Kerala.
The Congress riposted that the CPI(M) scuttled the Pooram festival to stoke Hindu majoritarian resentment, which allegedly advantaged the BJP in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency.
Notably, the LDF and UDF will likely find common ground in the INDIA bloc’s opposition to the Union Cabinet’s clearance to hold Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously.
As in the case of the CAA and the farm Bills, the Opposition’s consensus on simultaneous elections could manifest in a unanimous resolution in the Assembly.
Published - September 18, 2024 08:06 pm IST
