The State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) scrambled to contain the fall out of the arguably major "political gaffe" by its lone legislator O. Rajagopal in the Assembly on Thursday.
Mr. Rajagopal seemed to put the BJP in a predicament by appearing to join ranks with the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition during the voting on the resolution condemning the contentious farm laws passed by Parliament.
Mr. Rajagopal expressed his reservations about the wording of the motion but did not register his dissent during voting. He said the laws had at a stroke eliminated farmer exploitation and defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi's outreach to farmers in the face of strident attacks against the Central government from either side of the aisle.
At a press conference soon after, Mr. Rajagopal appeared to contradict himself. He gave the impression that he subscribed to the "consensus" in the Assembly that the Centre should repeal the laws that had pushed farmers on the warpath against the Modi government. He said "compromise and consensus" and not obstinacy guided democracy. "I support the resolution. I saw no issue," he said.
Treasury and Opposition benches attacked Mr. Modi for muscling the laws through both houses of Parliament without due diligence or discussion.
However, the voting that brought the curtains down on the extraordinary one day session saw Mr. Rajagopal not voting against the resolution. Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan said the House had adopted the motion unanimously.
Surendran at a loss
BJP State president K. Surendran was at a loss to explain Mr. Rajagopal's legislative conduct when journalists pressed him in Thodupuzha. Mr. Rajagopal's position appeared to have caught other BJP leaders by surprise.
Mr. Rajagopal clarified later that he did not oppose the "Central law or Central government". He had vehemently opposed the State government's resolution. The Speaker had violated custom by not asking whether any person opposed the motion, the MLA said.
The LDF portrayed the "unanimous passage" of the resolution damning the Central laws as a moral victory. However, Mr. Surendran said the government's claim rang hollow, and Mr. Rajagopal had held the party's line in the Assembly.
