One seat: BJP races to retain majority in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation

Thiruvananthapuram, July 6 (IANS) The BJP’s fight to secure bail for jailed Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Councillor, R. Sugathan, has acquired enormous political significance, with the party battling against time to protect its wafer thin majority in Kerala’s largest civic body.

Sugathan, detained under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA), is preparing to move the Kerala High Court after the KAAPA Advisory Board delayed its decision on his bail plea despite hearing the matter on June 29.

The urgency stems from another legal hurdle.

The High Court had recently disqualified 20 councillors of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation for violating their oath of office and directed them to take the oath afresh within four weeks.

Nineteen councillors have since complied. Sugathan alone could not do so as he remains in judicial custody.

Unless he is released and retakes the oath before July 24, he stands to lose his councillor’s post permanently.

For the BJP, the consequences are far-reaching.

The party currently has 50 councillors and the support of one independent, in the 101-member Corporation.

It was this slender majority that enabled the BJP to capture power in the Corporation for the first time in its history.

If Sugathan loses his seat, the BJP’s effective strength would come down to 49, leaving the party without a simple majority in the council and throwing the future of the ruling dispensation into uncertainty.

The Left Democratic Front has 29 councillors and the Congress-led United Democratic Front 20, while the other Independent is aligned with the Left.

Although the arithmetic would not automatically hand control to the Opposition, it would significantly weaken the BJP’s position and make the administration vulnerable during crucial votes.

The BJP is learnt to have little expectation of relief from the KAAPA Advisory Board, whose members were appointed during the previous Left government.

The party is instead pinning its hopes on the High Court, seeking either regular bail or, at the very least, temporary parole to enable Sugathan to retake the oath within the court prescribed deadline.

The outcome could determine not just Sugathan’s political future, but also whether the BJP retains its historic first ever control of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.

–IANS

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