BackFaraway from 'golden chance', Sabarimala gives much of pain for BJP in Kerala
The disarray within the state unit stands in sharp contrast to the focus given to the state by the BJP national leadership over the last few years Kerala is the only state, if one excludes the smaller northeastern states, where the party has not been able to win a parliamentary seat ever
PremiumBENGALURU : The fights to deny temple entry for menstruating women in Sabarimala, against a last year's supreme court order, was supposed to be transforming event for the BJP in 2019 parliamentary contest in Kerala.
The party chief in Kerala, PS Sreedharan Pillai, said as much—in an internal meet of the party's youth outfit, he said it is the "golden chance" for the BJP to grow. But as poll contest nears, Sabarimala is giving much of the pain for the party in the candidate's selection process.
Even as the ruling communists and the Congress, the later even after some unusual delay, have announced candidates, the BJP camp still seems to be in the dark about its candidates in Kerala, except for fielding Kummanam Rajashekaran against Congress heavyweight Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram.
Rajashekaran, a former party president, resigned as Mizoram Governor on 8 March in order to return to Kerala politics and has started poll campaigning in Thiruvananthapuram. The inordinate delay in other seats seems mostly because the party stands divided over who to contest from Sabarimala's nerve center, the Pathanamthitta constituency.
At least four major leaders of the BJP want to contest from the seat—the party chief Pillai, union minister of state for tourism Alphons Kannanthanam, BJP general secretaries K Surendran and MT Ramesh— who are not willing to contest from anywhere else.
Pillai has been making a pitch to contest from Pathanamthitta early on, taking credit for the Sabarimala fight and highlighting his rapport with upper caste Hindu organisation Nair Service Society, according to a BJP leader who declined to be named. But Pillai's flip-flops during the Sabarimala campaign received him backlash from the two major factions in Kerala BJP, who have been lobbying for their loyalists for the Pathanamthitta seat. One faction led by V. Muraleedharan has been pushing for Surendran and the other led by P.K. Krishna Das have been pushing for MT Ramesh, said the leader.
Ramesh has previously said he did not wish to contest the polls if not picked for Pathanamthitta. While Surendran initially wanted to contest from Thrissur constituency, the seat is expected to be given to ally Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), as its leader Thushar Vellappally showed interest to contest. Afterwards, Surendran's focus shifted to Pathanamthitta. By last week, Kannanthanam, also openly raised claims for the Pathanamthitta seat.
"Currently, I don’t have to contest the polls as I have three and a half years to serve in the Rajya Sabha. But, if the party demands me to contest, I would obey as a responsible party worker. If so, my priority will be to contest the Pathanamthitta seat. I have given preference for Pathanamthitta because it is my home constituency," Kannanthanam on Saturday, reported the website of regional newspaper Mathrubhumi.
The disarray within the state unit stands in sharp contrast to the focus given to the state by the BJP national leadership over the last few years. Kerala is the only state, if one excludes the smaller northeastern states, where the party has not been able to win a parliamentary seat ever, despite being on a rollercoaster ride elsewhere in India.
To increase its clout, the BJP has been showering top positions to its party leaders in Kerala. In the last five years, four leaders of its state unit were nominated to Rajya Sabha. The focus was also clear from an increased number of star-studded rallies in Kerala by the BJP, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party national chief Amit Shah.
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