NEW DELHI: In an unexpected move, the BJP Central Election Committee has decided to review the candidature list submitted to them by the Kerala State unit.
The State leaders had announced the list on Wednesday and had come to Delhi to get the final stamp of approval without expecting any hiccups. But the central leadership, according to sources, was quite irked by the fact that the State leadership announced the first list before getting it ratified by the central leadership.
“How can they announce the list before getting it ratified? They even put it up in the official website yesterday and brought it to us for ratification,’’ a central leader said. According to him, even the chances of rejecting the list cannot be ruled out. “The president is quite angry,’’ said the leader about BJP president Amit Shah.
The list proposed by the State unit had the names of senior leaders, including BJP State president Kummanam Rajasekharan and veteran O Rajagopal, who is still the trump card of the party.
The central leadership has apparently also noticed the fact the State leaders have cornered all those seats where there is a chance to win. This shows the general attitude of the Kerala unit. We are very much disappointed,’’ added the leader.
The party, which is yet to win even a single seat in Kerala, is viewing this election quite seriously. But it has been an uphill task for the party, which was severely faction ridden in the State. Despite several efforts from the central leadership, including replacing the State unit president, factionalism stays.
Another criticism of the current list is that it has mostly the names of leaders from northern Kerala while all the constituencies are in the south.
“Many of these are seats with strong winning possibilities and a good number of them have been earmarked for leaders from the north,’’ said a leader from south who has come with a complaint against the list.
As per the list, the BJP State president will be making his début from Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram and O Rajagopal will try his luck from Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram district, where he had finished second in the last Assembly elections.