Even though the BJP has launched a nationwide campaign to defend the three laws of the central farm, Kerala’s only party lawmaker, O Rajagopal, on Thursday backed an Assembly resolution calling for the laws to be repealed.
However, a few hours later, Rajagopal issued a statement saying that he had in fact vehemently opposed the resolution and accused President P Sreeramakrishnan of not seeking a number of those who opposed it.
Earlier in the day, Rajagopal spoke in favor of agricultural laws in the Assembly, but when he was put to the vote by the president, he backed the resolution.
Addressing the media outside the Assembly, the senior BJP leader justified his position and told reporters: “I have a different opinion on certain points in the resolution. But I fully supported the resolution. I supported the resolution, which called for the withdrawal of agricultural laws. That is why I did not vote against the resolution. “
On why he did not object to the resolution, he said: “This is the democratic spirit. We are left with the general consensus … In these types of issues, what we need is compromise. I do not find anything wrong with a BJP legislator who supports the resolution against the Center’s agricultural laws. “
While the party only said it would consider Rajagopal’s statement, BJP President K Surendran said the issue was not brought to his attention until evening, Rajagopal issued another statement accusing the president.
“It simply came to our notice then. He did not look for a separate number between those who support the resolution and those who oppose it. I had made my position clear in my resolution speech. I did not oppose the laws and I am not against the central law, “he said.
Rajagopal, which opened the BJP account in Kerala in the 2016 elections, has differed from the party’s position in the past.
Two weeks ago, after the results of the local body, when the president of the state BJP Surendran stated that the cross-vote of LDF and UDF led to the defeat of BJP in the municipal corporation Thiruvananthapuram, Rajagopal said: “There is no evidence for cross-voting. We could not win the trust of the voters. The party focused only on the gold smuggling scandal against the government. That didn’t work. People seemed to be concerned only with the benefits of the government; not about scandals, “he said.
In December last year, when the Assembly passed a resolution against the Law on Changing Citizenship, Rajagopal did not object to it again.