KOCHI: A section of leaders of the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), which is headed by SNDP Yogam vice-president Thushar Vellappally, on Thursday resigned from the party and formed a breakaway outfit called the Bharatheeya Jana Sena (BJS) here.The faction led by N K Neelakandan Master, former state general secretary of BDJS, and V Gopakumar, a former aide of Thushar, announced the formation of the new party at a presser here. A 15-member state committee has been formed with N K Neelakandan as president and V Gopakumar and K K Binu as vice-presidents.
Gopakumar claimed that majority of the state council members and 11 district committees of the BDJS have extended their support to the new party.Neelakandan said the BJS will support the UDF in the coming assembly elections. He alleged that BJP has conspired with the CPM to ensure the UDF’s defeat in the assembly elections.
Trashing reports of a split in the BDJS, Thushar Vellappally said only a few leaders who were hungry for posts had left the party. Gopakumar had joined the Congress several months ago seeking a seat in the assembly elections. Neelakandan was not active in the party,” he said.
Thushar said the state council of the party will meet on Friday to finalise the strategy for the assembly polls. The meeting will decide whether to contest the elections. However, the party will remain an NDA ally, he said.Additionally, Thushar Vellappally took over as the assistant secretary of SN Trust, which controls the educational institutions of the SNDP Yogam. Addressing trust members at the SN Trust office in Kollam, he gave an undertaking on steps to improve the facilities of educational institutions.