Chennai: With less than a week left for the Kerala bypolls, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit is troubled by dissent and factionalism that may blow away its chances of a win in the crucial Palakkad assembly constituency.
The latest crisis is brought by one of its popular faces, Sandeep Varier, who decided to stay away from the poll campaign. A popular face who takes part in televised debates, Varrier is a BJP state committee leader from Palakkad with strong links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Varrier’s announcement came days after Thirur Satheesh, a former BJP functionary in the neighbouring Thrissur district, stirred up the 2021 Kodakara ‘hawala’ case while dragging Kerala BJP chief K. Surendran into the muck.
The bypolls to Wayanad (parliamentary seat) and Chelakkara (assembly seat) will take place on 13 November, while Palakkad votes on 20 November. Results will be announced on 23 November. The Palakkad bypoll is taking place as Congress’ sitting MLA Shafi Parambil vacated the seat after winning from Vadakara in this year’s general elections.
The BJP is enthusiastic about its chances of winning Palakkad, where it came second in two consecutive assembly elections in 2016 and 2021. The Sangh, the BJP’s ideological parent, has a strong network in this constituency.
C. Krishnakumar, a BJP state general secretary who contested from the same constituency in the general elections, is its candidate. Krishnakumar is up against Independent candidate P. Sarin, a former Congress social media head who is backed by the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist), and Congress’ Rahul Mamkootathil.
In 2021, BJP’s E. Sreedharan, popularly known as Metro man, had secured 50,220 votes (35.34 percent) against Congress’ winning candidate Shafi Prambil, who got 54,079 votes (38.06 percent). In 2016, when the BJP had much less influence in the State, Sobha Surendran got 40,076 votes (29.08 percent), pushing the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to a distant third.
Though finished third at Palakkad in the Lok Sabha elections, Krishnakumar had increased the BJP’s vote share to 24.31 percent from 21.44 percent in 2019. And, Suresh Gopi’s win in the Thrissur parliamentary seat marked the BJP’s entry in Kerala.
“One of the major issues of the BJP in Kerala is its organisational structure. The RSS has a strong organisation in the state. However, the BJP has not been able to strengthen its base,” Kerala-based political analyst C. R. Neelakandan told ThePrint.
Neelakandan said the BJP doesn’t have a leadership with public trust in Kerala, adding that the opposition party won’t be able to make much impact in Palakkad with its current organisational challenges.
He said the BJP’s victories such as at the Thrissur parliamentary seat and at Nemom assembly seat in 2016 were because of the personal influence of the candidates, actor-politician Suresh Gopi and senior leader O. Rajagopal.
Another Kerala-based political analyst and former journalist, K. P. Sethunath said the BJP would have been able to make a significant impact or even win if there was no factionalism.
Sethunath said while the reasons for the factionalism is not apparent, the leaders’ caste could also be a reason for it. “ (Kerala BJP chief) Surendran and (former Union minister V.) Muraleedharan belong to the Ezhava community, while (state general secretary) M.T. Ramesh is from an upper caste background. Sobha Surendran is from another community and looks like she doesn’t belong to any of these groups…,” he said.
Sethunath added that the BJP central brass doesn’t seem to have much hold over the State leadership as it has with other state units. “Looks like they have ignored the Kerala unit.”
However, the BJP state leadership said the controversies will not have an impact. “None of the issues will affect us in Palakkad. Palakkad is the party’s stronghold and we will win there,” BJP state vice-president K.S. Radhakrishnan told ThePrint.
Radhakrishnan said that the party is actively reaching out to voters at booth level in the constituency like never before, adding that the recent controversies won’t affect its prospects.
“It (the BJP) is a democratic organisation. There will be different opinions. But when it comes to elections, we will forget all of it and work together,” he said.
“Varrier just expressed his concerns and is still with the party,” he said, adding that it would have little impact on the election as the party functionary is not a Palakkad voter.
Also Read: Priyanka Gandhi’s electoral debut begins on grand note, Rahul declares Wayanad ‘will have 2 MPs’
Blast from the past
The crisis in the BJP started brewing soon after the dates of the bypolls were announced on 15 October. Even before the party officially announced its candidate, banners of Sobha Surendran had appeared in Palakkad district welcoming her to the constituency. However, the day before the announcement of the candidate, the banner was set ablaze.
Last week, Tirur Satheesh, a former BJP office secretary in Thrissur, said that the money linked to the 2021 Kodakara black money case was part of BJP’s election fund. The party office received the money in the presence of BJP state president K. Surendran, he alleged.
Tirur was referring to the robbery of Rs 3.5 crore from a car en route to Ernakulam in Thrissur just three days ahead of the 2021 Kerala assembly polls. The CPI (M) had then alleged that it was money meant to fund the BJP’s poll campaign.
“BJP’s groupism is really visible. K. Surendran is on one side, there is one led by Sobha Surendran. And the RSS hasn’t been able to control the BJP in the State,” Neelakandan said.
Two days after this on Monday, BJP’s Palakkad leader Sandeep Varier alleged that he was being humiliated and consistently ignored by the party. Varier then announced that he would not be participating in the Palakkad by-polls campaigns to support Krishnakumar.
In a Facebook post, Varier said Krishnakumar did not visit when his mother passed away two years ago even as many opposition leaders parties, including the Left Democratic Front’s Palakkad candidate P Sarin, offered condolences.
“I am still just a humble BJP worker, holding flags, shouting slogans, and putting up posters. However, I have faced some mental distress. That is a truth I cannot hide. I firmly believe that a person’s self-respect is of utmost importance. This isn’t just about an insult at a single event; it’s a chain of events. I am not intending to discuss them all right now,” he said in a Facebook post.
Reacting to the allegations, Surendran said the controversies will not affect the party’s chance in the election. “Let’s see how far this will go,” the BJP state chief said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)