Mallikarjun Kharge’s pitch to dissolve assemblies puts own Congress government in Kerala in a spot

Mallikarjun Kharge, the head of India's Congress party, recently called for the dissolution of all state assemblies following protests against the Election Commission of India. This has put his own Congress government in Kerala in a difficult position. Days later, the BJP is attempting to turn Kharge's statement against the Congress, accusing the party of double standards when it comes to the legitimacy of elections in the state.

The United Democratic Front (UDF), a coalition led by Congress, won a significant majority in the recent Assembly elections, securing 102 out of 140 seats.

Kharge's speech last week claimed all elections were illegal and demanded a fresh round of voting using paper ballots. The Congress has previously alleged irregularities in electronic voting machines, but the opposition movement against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has intensified recently. Neither the Congress nor the CPI(M), which previously governed the state, made serious allegations against the State Election Commissioner. The main concern was with the scheduling of the polls, which coincided with local body elections.

The BJP has seized the opportunity to portray the demand for dissolution as evidence of Congress's duplicity. The party's state president, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, questioned the legality of the Kerala elections in the wake of the recent protests. MLA Nemom Chandrasekhar tweeted, "Congress National President says all these elections were illegal and all Chief Ministers are illegal.

So, the first thing to be discussed in the Assembly is whether all of us MLAs are illegal." BJP MLA B B Gopakumar even wrote to Chief Minister V D Satheesan, questioning the legitimacy of his own position, suggesting that the chief minister's power may have been obtained through electoral fraud.