Kerala Tourism tweets, then deletes, invite to Karnataka MLAs as parties hunt majority
The tongue-in-cheek tweet from Kerala Tourism came as the Karnataka election verdict threw up a hung assembly, leaving political parties scrambling to make up numbers for a majority
In a tweet now deleted, the Kerala government’s tourism department invited newly elected lawmakers in neighbouring Karnataka to “unwind” at its resorts after the rough and tumble of the Karnataka assembly elections, results for which were announced on Tuesday.
The tongue-in-cheek offer came as the Karnataka verdict threw up a hung assembly, leaving political parties scrambling to make up numbers for a majority. As the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) came together to try and keep single largest party the BJP out, there were murmurs about the need to sequester MLAs to prevent defections.
“After the rough and tumble of the #KarnatakaVerdict, we invite all the MLAs to unwind at the safe and beautiful resorts of God’s Own Country,” Kerala Tourism tweeted, with the hashtags Karnataka verdict and ‘Come Out And Play.’ A photo of a stunning backwater resort in Kerala accompanied the tweet.
Before Kerala Tourism withdrew the tweet, it had been retweeted almost 5,500 times and liked by almost 9,000 people, Press Trust of India reported. In comments, many suggested Kerala Tourism was “trolling” Karnataka’s MLAs.
Political parties often whisk lawmakers away to luxury resorts to prevent rival parties from poaching. Lawmakers of Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK vacationed twice last year at resorts as the party navigated splits and mergers.
Ahead of Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat last year, the Congress flew its MLAs from the state to a five-star resort in Karnataka capital Bengaluru.
On Tuesday, the BJP was the single largest party in the Karnataka assembly while the Congress came in second followed by Janata Dal (Secular). JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy has, however, staked claim to form government with what the Congress called its “unconditional support.”
The BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa too has staked claim to form government, asserting that the Governor is obliged to invite his party first as it is the single largest. “Now the all is in the Governor’s court,” he said.
