By P. Sreekumaran
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Keralam unit, which is hoping to improve its performance in the crucial Assembly elections, is bedevilled with a bewildering array of problems.
Topping the list is infighting over and dissatisfaction with the selection of candidates for the assembly elections.
To cite an example, the BJP has to grapple with angry leaders who are upset over being denied ticket for the Palakkad Assembly constituency, which is among the seats the BJP is ‘sure’ of winning. The BJP has fielded one of their its strongest candidates from the constituency, Sobha Surendran, who has played a pivotal role in building the BJP into a formidable force in Palakkad.
The absence of BJP East district president Prasanth Sivan from Sobha’s programmes triggered speculation about growing dissent within the party. True, Sivan, who is angry over being denied ticket to contest from Palakkad, joined Sobha’s programmes, following the summons from BJP state vice-president C. Krishnakumar. But the open display of dissent has left a trail of bitterness, and cast a shadow over Sobha’s prospects of wresting the seat from Congress.
Adding to the woes of the party is the allegation that the BJP and Congress have struck a deal to ensure Sobha’s victory. The Congress has fielded actor Ramnesh Pisharody, considered a weak and ‘apolitical’ candidate, ignoring the claims of many leaders who could have given a stiff fight to Sobha. If the Congress was serious about retaining the seat, then it should have fielded a heavyweight like former KPCC chief K. Muralidharan. That it has not chosen to do that is self-explanatory, claim the LDF leaders. To hide their discomfiture over the political blunder, the Congress is accusing the CPI(M) of reaching an understanding with the BJP!
Likewise, differences have emerged over the candidature of former BJP state chief K. Surendran from Manjeswaram, where Surendran has lost two contests in the past by narrow margins. Instead of fighting as a united force, the party is presenting a picture of disunity. An upset BJP district president ML Ashwini has demanded that she be relieved of her role as the Manjeswaram constituency in-charge. Her complaint: Surendran has kept her in the dark about his programmes and engagements in the constituency. Ashwini, who contested as the NDA candidate from the Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency in the last general election, is unhappy over lack of cooperation from a few leaders in coordinating organisational activities in Manjeswaram. As if all this was not enough, the NDA Manjeswaram constituency convener and area vice-president Vijayakumar Rai has been accused of taking decisions unilaterally without involving all the leaders concerned.
Things are no better in Thrissur constituency either. Here the party hopes the Suresh Gopi factor will help the BJP romp home the winner. However, political rivals say Gopi, who won the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency in 2024, has lost his grip over the seat, and his image has lost its sheen. BJP has fielded Padmaja Venugopoal, daughter of late Congress leader and former chief minister K. Karunakaran. Padmaja, who defected from Congress to BJP is a known figure in Thrissur. But her ‘betrayal’ of Congress has caused widespread resentment, which will have an adverse effect on her chances, say experts. CPI has fielded Alankode Leelakrishnan, a cultural activist and writer as its candidate. He is taking the constituency by storm with his enthusiastic campaign.
The BJP-Congress deal is on in the Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram district, from where BJP State chief Rajiv Chandrasekhar is contesting. By fielding a weak candidate, the Congress is helping the BJP, alleges CPI(M), which has put up Education Minister V. Sivankutty.
Last but not the least, the cadres of BJP are also upset over the party allotting its A class constituencies to new-found ally, Twenty 20 and Bharat Dharma Jana Sena(BDJS). For instance, Twenty 20 has been allotted BJP’s A class seats like Tripunithura and Kodungallur. That party has also been given the Ranni seat, where the BJP polled over 30,000 votes in the 2024 LS poll besides Ettumannur, which saw the BJP polling over 25,000 votes. In Konni, where the BJP secured over 34,000 votes in the Lok Sabha elections, it is ally, BDJS that is in the fray.
It is against this backdrop that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is on record that the BJP will draw a blank this time as well. The Chief Minister, in an interview to The Hindu said that the setback to the LDF in the local bodies election could not be interpreted as a prevalent anti-incumbency sentiment against the State Government.
The Left, he pointed out, has excellent relations with all communities. Therefore, the talk of a consolidation of community votes against the ruling front is absurd. The people of Keralam would appreciate his Government’s efforts to bring the State in step with the modern times. The BJP’s ‘develop Keralam’ slogan is duplicitous, citing the Union Government’s “callous” attitude towards the State in the face of adversities.
Meanwhile, the presence of a seal of the BJP’s Keralam unit on a 2019 Election Commission of India(ECI) letter on election-related guidelines, which was distributed to political parties recently, has kicked up a controversy. The CPI(M) has alleged that “seals are being casually swapped”. Has the BJP dropped “all pretences”, the party asked. Chief Electoral Officer (Keralam) (CEO), Rathan U. Kelkar, however, attributed the issue to a “clerical error”, adding that corrective measures have been taken.
The CEO said the Keralam unit of the BJP had visited his office seeking clarifications on the EC guidelines. The party seal was on a copy of the EC letter submitted along with the application seeking the clarification. “The old letter was distributed to political parties due to an oversight,” he said.
As soon as the error was noticed, the CEO office told all political parties, district election officers and returning officers in writing that the letter was being withdrawn and that it should be disregarded.
On the whole, it is an uphill task for the BJP to better its show. The BJP which had put up a good performance in the Lok Sabha elections, lost the momentum in the local bodies polls. Its vote percentage, which was 19% in 2024, has come down to 14.5 per cent. This being the ground reality, the BJP’s hopes of winning a few seats will remain a pipedream, say the CPI(M) and the CPI. (IPA Service)
