Congress more focused on power than people, says Kerala BJP leader V Muraleedharan

India Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar with Junior Foreign Minister V. Muraleedharan. Pic/AFP

BJP MLA-elect from Kazhakootam, V Muraleedharan on Monday criticised the Congress over the delay in government formation in Keralam, alleging that the party was more focused on power than public welfare.

Speaking to ANI, Muraleedharan said that despite receiving a massive mandate, the Congress had failed to arrive at a unanimous decision on leadership, which, according to him, reflected the party's disregard for the people of the state.

Muraleedharan further alleged that both the national and state leadership of the Congress had disrespected the people of Kerala by creating uncertainty over government formation.

"It shows the Congress does not care for the people of the state. Even after getting a massive mandate, the Congress couldn't come up with a name unanimously. It shows Congressmen are after power and not for the people. Congress leadership at the national and state-level do not care for the people of Keralam.

It is a massive disrespect for the people of the state. Congress should apologise to the people of Keralam for creating such a situation. They will not be able to make decisions on many things. I am sure that this govt will not take more than a year for people to come out against them," said Muraleedharan.

The BJP leader further alleged that the Congress would not be able to govern independently, as the agenda of the government would be driven by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).

"Congress will not be able to rule the state based on their decisions because the agenda will be set by the Muslim League," he said.

The United Democratic Front (UDF) led by Congress secured 96 seats out of 140 seat Keralam assembly in the recently concluded elections. Despite achieving such a decisive majority, the UDF has yet to name its candidate for Chief Minister in the state, which has drawn criticism from opposition parties.

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala had earlier defended the delay and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of forgetting that the BJP itself allegedly took 50 days to announce a Chief Minister in Delhi.

Chennithala said Congress follows a democratic consultation process, unlike the BJP, where, according to him, decisions are centralised."The Indian National Congress is a democratic party, not an authoritarian one," he had said.

Prime Minister Modi had also targeted the Congress on Sunday over the delay in naming a Chief Minister in Keralam, alleging that Congress governments remain preoccupied with internal disputes and power struggles instead of governance.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.