KOCHI: A group of leaders from Janata Dal (Secular), Loktanthrik Janata Dal, and Janata Dal (United), allies of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at a function held in Kochi on Sunday.
Among the newcomers to the Saffron camp is Sujith Sunder, a veteran television serial maker.
Speaking at the merger meeting, BJP state president K Surendran said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was trying to polarise the people on communal lines in the name of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). "The CPM state committee's decision to bring together Muslim organisations against the UCC is aimed at polarizing society," he said. "This move will have dangerous consequences," Surendran said.
The BJP state president said the chief minister is trying to build a platform of fundamental outfits to continue in power.
Surendran said the CPM was a party that fought for the implementation of UCC. When the Supreme Court verdict came in the Shah Bano case (1985), it was EMS Namboothiripad who asked Rajiv Gandhi to implement the court verdict. Those who raised slogans against EMS are the fundamentalists, he said.
Inaugurating the merger conference, the BJP's Kerala Prabhari Prakash Javadekar called the event "historic". He said the Congress and the Communists, who are fighting with each other in Kerala, are unified outside the state. "People have realised this," he said, adding that Kerala politics will undergo a big change within one year.
Meanwhile, the joining of television serial maker Sujith to the BJP comes at a time when three film personalities recently deserted the party. Malayalam filmmakers Rajasenan and Ali Akbar recently announced their decision to quit the BJP. Actor Bheeman Raghu has also indicated his plan to quit the BJP.