Kerala Tourism Offers 'Safe And Beautiful Resorts' to Karnataka MLAs as BJP, Congress, & JDS Look to Form Government in Hung Assembly
While the Kerala State Tourism Department is a part of the government, it is largely considered an independent entity.
The verdict of Karnataka Assembly election 2018 showcased dramatic results with no party reaching the 112 mark of a majority. Even after emerging as the single largest party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with much in hand than Congress or Janata Dal-Secular, could not form the majority. And considering the ruling party's negotiation skills with regional strongholds when they don't prove majority, it is naturally going to be busy for a few top decision makers in BJP. And taking advantage of the highlight in Karnataka politics is Kerala's Tourism department. Kerala' s tourism tweeted an invitation to the newly-elected legislators to "unwind" at "safe and beautiful resorts in Gods Own Country".
Kerala Tourism's tweet read, "After the rough and tumble of the #KarnatakaVerdict, we invite all the MLAs to unwind at the safe & beautiful resorts of God's Own Country."
Here is the tweet that was later deleted:
And this reminds us of how VK Sasiskala let 120 Tamil Nadu lawmakers spent a few days at a resort outside Chennai to prevent them from joining her opponent O Panneerselvam. While it was said, they were held in the hotel against their will, naturally, Sasikala rubbished the claims. Coming back to current politics in resorts, the tweet was deleted later in the evening. Most Twitterati who loved the reference lauded Kerala Tourism for their creative social media team.
And resorting to hotels post election results is not new to Karnataka. In 2016, the Congress party in Karnataka had previously taken independent MLA candidates to a hotel in Mumbai to safeguard them from the BJP before the Rajya Sabha polls. The method can also be traced back to 1984 when former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister NT Rama Rao brought Telugu Desam Party MLAs to Karnataka during a political unsettlement.
While the Kerala State Tourism Department is a part of the government, it is largely considered an independent entity. It was grown largely in the recent times and recorded a revenue of Rs 24,000 crore in 2013-14.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 16, 2018 09:31 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).