THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In what is being seen as a strategic move ahead of the Assembly elections, the BJP in Kerala plans to highlight the Sabarimala gold theft row as a key campaign issue. The party has launched petition drives addressed to MLAs and a house-to-house signature campaign demanding a CBI probe into the matter.
However, the BJP has not initiated a formal statewide campaign on the issue, choosing instead to sustain it as a grassroots-level activity. The party expects the issue to resonate in at least 35 constituencies and intends to keep it alive throughout the election period.
Sources from the party informed that the party was not able to translate the Sabarimala issue into votes as it expected. "More than the BJP gaining more votes, the issue put the Left in a spot. When the topper faces a setback, the second person gets the benefit, and that is what happened in the local body elections," a senior party leader told TNIE. Notably, the party had levelled up its campaign slogan to 'Faith Protection, Developed and Safe Keralam' in the last two months, from 'Developed Keralam', which took the centre stage during the local body elections.
"We are currently organising Sabarimala Deepam and similar activities in all 140 constituencies of the state, which will continue till March 10. The party is also planning to launch yathras across the state by March 5, led by our state leaders. Sabarimala will definitely hold a key position in the same," a BJP leader informed.
However, the BJP is not limiting Sabarimala to the recent gold theft controversy, as Rajeev earlier hinted at reiterating the party's earlier stand on the women's entry issue. "We have three key demands-- take down the older affidavit the state government submitted to the Supreme Court regarding the women's entry issue and file a new one, repeal all the cases taken against devotees during that time, along with the handover of the ongoing gold theft row investigation to CBI. This will be reflected in our campaigns, along with others, including safety from jihadi politics and development," a top party office-bearer told the TNIE.
Contextually, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar visited the bailed tantri, Kandararu Rajeevaru, at a private hospital here on Wednesday. Taking the political route, he had also commented that the tantri's arrest was made to divert people's focus from Kadakampally Surendran and VN Vasavan, who should rather be jailed.
Mentioning that even though the BJP was a bit slow in taking a proper stand in the Sabarimala issue, social commentator G Gopakumar said that the current position will help the party to fare well in the assembly elections. "Even when Sabarimala became a controversial point ahead of both the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2025 local body polls, UDF benefited the most out of it. Even though the developmental agenda has made a significant dividend in votes, the BJP cannot make it big until it goes into its traditional vote base," he said.