Thiruvananthapuram: The BJP’s Kerala unit is at crossroads. There is infighting between the state leaders while the traditional vote-bank of the party is shrinking, with national leaders either silent or supporting leaders with no vote-base.
The state BJP unit is controlled by Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan, who was former National General Secretary of the ABVP, the student body of the RSS.
Being close to BJP President J.P. Nadda and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who are his contemporaries, has given Muraleedharan the advantage vis-a-vis other leaders in the state.
The present ‘Sar Kayavahak’ (General Secretary) of the RSS, Dattatreya Hosabella, was the ABVP National Organising Secretary when Muraleedharan was its General Secretary, which also helped him in climbing the party hierarchy.
The nexus
Muraleedharan pulled strings to bring in his close associate K. Surendran as the State President of BJP antagonising several other senior leaders of the party. The State Core Committee of BJP is also filled with former ABVP leaders including Krishnakumar and P. Sudheer — both close associates of Muraleedharan.
The State Organizing Secretary of Kerala BJP and RSS Pracharak M. Ganeshan was recently shown door. As per the party insiders, the step was taken as Ganeshan had stood up to Muraleedharan and his associates including Surendran, Krishnakumar and Sudheer during the party core committee meet.
Kerala dream
BJP is fighting hard to set its foot in the state again. The party lost the only assembly seat of Nemom, which it had won in 2011, with the veteran ninety year-old leader O. Rajagopal, winning the seat. It marked the entry of BJP in Kerala assembly.
However, the dream was short lived and in just five years in 2016 assembly elections, BJP lost the Nemom assembly seat after the veteran leader Rajagopal refused to contest the polls.
Surendran contested two seats in the 2016 assembly elections — Manjeswaram and Konni — but lost both the seats. Surendran used helicopter during the election campaign which became a joke in Kerala where politicians are ‘down to earth’. It was one of the main reasons why people rejected Surendran and resented BJP.
A woman leader
Meanwhile, senior BJP woman leader Shoba Surendran was also cut to size as she is being perceived in the opposite camp to Muraleedharan. With no one informing the national leadership, a gifted orator and a woman leader like Shobha was left out. She has been given a relatively less-important post of State Vice President and also not included in the party’s core committee.
Caste politics
The forward caste Nair, which has been the traditional supporters of the BJP, was also pushed to the corner by the duo of Muraleedharan and Surendran — both OBC leaders. There are also rumours going-on that OBC leaders now dominate the party by cutting the party’s traditional vote bank — Nairs — to size.
Interestingly, the powerful Ezhava community — to which both Muraleedharan and Surendran belong — already have given their allegiance to CPI-M and the left front. It has been the traditional vote bank of the CPI-M. Pinarayi Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala, is also from the same community.
‘Why Muraleedharan?’
With the 2024 Lok Sabha polls at the doorsteps, the Kerala BJP is a disoriented unit. Of the 20 Kerala Lok Sabha seats, the BJP is likely to draw a blank unless the national leadership intervenes and studies the party politics and state properly without taking sides.
A senior leader of Kerala BJP told IANS that the party which was an aspiration for youth from all Hindu communities is now at crossroads.
“I don’t understand why the national leadership is supporting leaders like Muraleedharan, who does not have any ground support, even among his own Ezhavas community,” the leader said.
He said that the BJP trying to woo Christians and other communities is good but it should understand that its traditional support base is shrinking just as in Karnataka where the Lingayat community voted against the party leading to its shocking debacle.
Tailpiece
BJP President J.P. Nadda, who is arriving in the costal state on Monday to attend the ninth year celebrations of the Narendra Modi government, must address the burning issues of the party. Will the party gain in 2024 general election or will there be usual inside party rumblings, only time will tell.
(IANS)
