THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the assembly elections fast approaching, the Kerala unit of the BJP is set to intensify efforts to expand the party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), in line with the central leadership’s broad directive to attract more outfits to the saffron front.
BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar told TNIE that the NDA will contest all 140 assembly constituencies, thereby assuring “adequate representation” to every party that joins hands with the BJP.
“The plan is to lock in clear wins in our strongholds while significantly expanding the party’s vote base in other favourable constituencies,” he said.
As part of its push to widen the party’s footprint across the state, the BJP will attempt to rope in smaller outfits that wield considerable clout in their pockets of influence. “The possibility of more parties joining the NDA fold ahead of the assembly polls cannot be ruled out,” Chandrasekhar said, without divulging further details.
The BJP state chief’s words assume significance as one of the key programmes lined up during Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah’s visit to Thiruvananthapuram is a meeting with NDA constituent leaders on Sunday.
As of now, the NDA in Kerala has major alliance partner BDJS and a few out-of-state parties such as the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Shiv Sena and the Conrad Sangma-led National People’s Party (NPP).
The Kamaraj Congress, led by Vishnupuram Chandrasekharan of the Vaikunda Swami Dharma Pracharana Sabha, has renewed its alliance with the NDA, putting to rest speculation that the outfit had moved closer to the UDF. The party commands influence among the Nadar community in southern constituencies of Thiruvananthapuram.
Meanwhile, the dismal performance of major ally BDJS in successive assembly elections has been a cause of concern in the NDA camp. The Thushar Vellappally-led party garnered around 4% of the total votes polled in the 2016 assembly elections, which was its best-ever electoral outing. However, the BDJS saw its vote share plummet to 1% in the 2021 elections, even as it was allocated 21 seats.
“In the local body elections, the party could get only around 1.45 lakh votes, constituting a vote share of 0.26%,” said a senior leader.