THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A meeting of the BJP core group - the state unit’s topmost decision making body - has been postponed yet again, reportedly due to factional issues. The possibility of many core group members, including past presidents, exerting pressure on state president K Surendran to rope in senior leader Sobha Surendran for the local body poll campaign, is understood to be the reason for the postponement.
The core group meet was scheduled to be held on December 1 in Thrissur. But the P K Krishnadas faction is learnt to have adopted a supportive stance towards the dissident leaders led by Sobha. Already, various district units, in which the Krishnadas faction enjoys a clear upper-hand, have demanded that Sobha be brought to the forefront of the campaign, especially to influence women voters.
Mahila Morcha national president Vanithi Srinivasan’s recent statement supporting Sobha in unequivocal terms, has made the state leadership go on the back-foot. Meanwhile, a senior leader close to Surendran said the core group meeting was to be held, subject to the availability of the prabhari (in-charge) C P Radhakrishnan and saha prabhari (co-in-charge) V Sunil Kumar. It was the non availability of two these leaders deputed by the central leadership that prompted the postponement. Interestingly, the core group has not met even once since the dissidence broke out in the party.