More Evidence Emerges of Congress–BJP Deal in Mattathur Panchayat to Keep LDF Out

Thrissur: More evidence has surfaced pointing to a Congress–BJP deal in Thrissur’s Mattathur Grama Panchayat. It has now come to light that the eight Congress panchayat members who contested and won resigned strictly as per a condition laid down by the BJP. Their resignation letters were handed over to BJP leaders even before being submitted to the District Congress Committee (DCC). Only after this did the four BJP members extend support to the Congress in the election of the panchayat president and vice-president.

Both parties had allegedly carried out a planned move even during the panchayat elections to topple the LDF-led administration by any means. With the knowledge of senior leaders, BJP Ernakulam regional secretary A Nagesh and DCC general secretary T M Chandran are said to have jointly planned the whoe deal in Mattathur. Congress members did not need to resign in order to vote in support of independent presidential candidate Tessy Jose Kallarackal.

However, the BJP reportedly imposed a condition that if its members were to support a Congress-backed candidate, the resignation letters of Congress members had to be made public before entering the hall for the presidential election. The resignation letters were handed over to the media by a BJP district leader, which is being cited as clear evidence that Congress leaders had first submitted them to the BJP.

Independent member K R Ouseph stated at a press conference that DCC general secretary T.M. Chandran personally visited his house and told him that he should contest for the post of president, assuring him that the support of the four BJP members had already been secured. This, he said, clearly shows that the deal had been finalised well in advance.

Audio recordings of phone conversations have also surfaced in which several candidates who contested on the Congress symbol allegedly admitted they had little chance of winning and openly urged voters to support the BJP instead. DCC general secretary T M Chandran himself had stated at a recent press conference that he possessed evidence showing some Congress candidates actively working in favour of the BJP.

Although Chandran released some of these details as part of an internal factional fight within the Congress, they have exposed the party’s questionable ties with the BJP. BJP panchayat member Athul Krishna has also revealed that the deal was carried out after discussions with constituency- and district-level leaders. With this, the direct involvement of Congress and BJP leaders in the incident has become increasingly evident.