Thiruvananthapuram (Keralam) [India], May 21 : BJP MLA V Muraleedharan on Thursday alleged that the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) was attempting to "control" the newly formed Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Keralam, claiming that the delay in portfolio allocation indicated pressure from coalition partners.
Speaking to reporters, Muraleedharan said the three-day delay in allotting portfolios after the swearing-in of the new cabinet had raised concerns regarding the functioning of the government led by Chief Minister VD Satheesan.
"The fact that after the formation of the cabinet, oath-taking, it took three days for portfolio allocation. As reported by the media, the reason was that the main partner in the coalition of UDF, the Muslim League, demanded many things and the Chief Minister had to comply with that. There are many reasons to believe that ultimately, the Muslim League is trying to control the government and the Chief Minister is being dictated by the Muslim League," he said.
Muraleedharan said every section of society should feel equally represented in a democratic setup and asserted that no community should feel neglected. "In this government, out of the 21 ministers, 12 ministers belong to minority communities. The fact that there are only nine ministers from the majority community should not become a reason for neglecting the majority community," he said.
The BJP leader also demanded the withdrawal of cases registered against Sabarimala devotees during protests against the entry of women of menstruating age into the hill shrine, as well as cases linked to the agitation against the SilverLine project.
He further criticised the CPI(M) for objecting to the singing of Vande Mataram during the oath-taking ceremony. "I want to ask them which specific wordings are against the secular credentials of the country and on what basis they are opposing it," he said.
Muraleedharan also reacted to the recent hike in milk prices announced by Milma, questioning the rationale behind the move.
"The government should explain whose interests they are trying to safeguard, because poor and ordinary people will be hard hit by this price hike," he said.
Meanwhile, the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly commenced its inaugural session on Thursday with the swearing-in ceremony of all 140 newly elected MLAs in Thiruvananthapuram.
The BJP created history by winning three Assembly seats for the first time in Kerala. BJP MLAs Rajeev Chandrasekhar, V Muraleedharan and B B Gopakumar took oath as members of the House.
The Congress-led UDF secured 102 seats in the Assembly elections, while the Left Democratic Front won 35 seats and the BJP won three seats.