THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A meeting of the BJP’s core group — the highest decision-making body of the party at the state level — will be held after a long gap, this time to take stock of the local body election results which offered a mixed bag to the saffron party.According to sources, the meeting will be held this Saturday or early next week. State prabhari (in-charge) C P Radhakrishnan and his deputy V Sunil Kumar will attend the meeting as the central leadership’s representatives for the first time after assuming charge.
“We will thoroughly assess the party’s performance in the polls, examine if there were any lacunae and suggest appropriate corrective measures,” Radhakrishnan told TNIE. Meanwhile, in a tweet on Thursday, BJP national president J P Nadda termed the results as an ‘improved mandate’ to the party. However, the BJP’s inability to wrest Thiruvananthapuram Corporation after generating so much hype will be the top agenda of the core group meet.
BJP former president and its lone MLA O Rajagopal, who is also a core group member, has already expressed displeasure over the electoral outcome.Rajagopal said the battle to wrest Thiruvananthapuram Corporation was a matter of prestige for BJP but the effort to achieve the objective was found lacking. “There was definitely scope for improvement in the election work done in the capital,” he told TNIE.
Rajagopal’s candid views assume significance as the state leadership had blamed vote trading by LDF and UDF as the sole reason for the debacle in the capital city, without going for any introspection of its organisational deficiencies.
The state leadership may also face scathing criticism from rival factions for failing to achieve the tall claims of registering a three to fourfold increase in the number of local body wards. The failure in resolving the dissidence amicably before the elections and its impact on the campaign may also come up for discussion.However, the state leadership is likely to counter the criticism by highlighting the inroads BJP made in red citadels and previously uncharted territories. The gains it registered in Christian-dominated areas will also be touted as the party’s achievement this time.
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