Satheesan should quit as Keralam CM as he called election illegal: BJP leader's dare

Kerala BJP vice-president Shone George on Thursday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister VD Satheesan, claiming the Congress leader had himself admitted that the state Assembly election held in the state was "illegal".

"Keralam CM and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that the election was illegal. On behalf of the Keralam BJP, I request the CM to resign immediately," he told reporters.

"Since he himself admits that the election held in Kerala four months ago was illegal, he has no right to hold the post of Chief Minister. Therefore, the Keralam BJP requests the CM to resign from the post and dissolve the Assembly," he said.

George's remarks came after Satheesan, in an X post on Tuesday, backed Rahul Gandhi's protest against alleged irregularities in the electoral process and demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

"Free and fair elections are the lifeblood of democracy," Satheesan said, alleging that the country's electoral process was being "sabotaged". He said Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had taken to the streets of Delhi in a "democratic struggle".

Satheesan also cited Chief Justice of India Surya Kant's observation that the Supreme Court had not directed any modifications to Form 6, saying this reinforced Rahul Gandhi's arguments that India's electoral process was being manipulated.

"There is no solution other than the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar," Satheesan said, adding that Kerala extended its "full support" to the democratic struggle.

Satheesan had participated in the INDIA bloc protest against Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi on Tuesday. He, along with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were detained for around two hours before being released.

WAR OF WORDS BETWEEN SATHEESAN, RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR

Last month, Satheesan was also involved in a war of words with state BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar over an Indian Express report claiming dissent within the Election Commission on the SIR exercise.

As Rahul Gandhi has been on the offensive accusing the poll panel of wrongdoing, Chandrasekhar defended the EC and said differences of opinion among its members were normal. He also attacked Rahul Gandhi, initially calling him a "creative fabricator" and later a "fraud".

Satheesan condemned the remarks as personal and abusive, while accusing the BJP of double standards over SIR. Chandrasekhar, a former Union Minister, then challenged Satheesan to get Rahul Gandhi to apologise to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission, saying he would otherwise continue calling the Congress leader a "fraud".