Unperturbed by the pressure mounted by the United Democratic Front, the Kerala Congress (M) faction led by Jose K. Mani has asked all party legislators, including the three in the rival group, to abide by its whip on abstaining from the Rajya Sabha election as well the no-confidence motion against the LDF government.
Mr. Mani reiterated here on Sunday that the move was in line with an earlier decision by the party steering committee to adopt an independent political stance. Dismissing the warning signals by the UDF against rejecting its whip, he pointed out that Schedule 10 of the Constitution of India had entrusted the authority to issue whips to individuals appointed by political parties and not coalitions.
“A party that has already been expelled from a coalition being expelled again is unheard of in Kerala politics... Those who ousted the KC(M) have never bothered to explain their action. When it is said that action will be taken in case of violating the general decision of the UDF, the question arises as to whether our expulsion earlier was not a general decision of the coalition,” said Mr. Mani, in an apparent response to UDF convener Benny Behanan.
e-mail, speed post too
Earlier in the day, the Mani faction had pasted copies of its whip to abstain from the presentation of the no-confidence motion in front of the rooms of the three Joseph faction MLAs, including their leader P.J. Joseph, at the MLA hostel in Thiruvananthpuram. Besides sticking the notice on the doors, they had also served the whip through e-mail and speed post.
The three-line whip, issued by Roshy Augustine, MLA, directed the KC(M) legislators to stay away from the presentation and discussion of a no-confidence motion against the government by V.D. Satheesan, MLA, under rule 63 of the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
Rival faction’s whip
The Joseph faction, on its part, too had issued a whip to all five KC(M) legislators to vote for the UDF candidate in the election and for the no-confidence motion. The hardening of stance by the Mani faction is likely to trigger a legal fight between the rival KC(M) factions seeking disqualification of MLAs who violate the whip.
Further, it is also set to exacerbate the political divide between the UDF and the Mani faction ahead of the upcoming local body elections.
