BJP state president V Muralidharan has announced the list of 13 district presidents. While eight district presidents were retained five new faces have been inducted.
They are P Sureshkumar Shetty (Kasaragod), K Ranjith (Kannur), K Sadanandan (Wayanad), P Raghunath (Kozhikode), K Narayanan Master (Malappuram), C Krishnakumar (Palakkad), A Nagesh (Thrissur), P J Thomas (Ernakulam), P A Velukuttan (Idukki), Ettumanoor Radhakrishnan (Kottayam), Velliyamkulam Parameswaran (P’Thitta) and M Sunil (Kollam).
While Sureshkumar Shetty, K Sadanandan, P Raghunath, C Krishnakumar, A Nagesh, P A Velukuttan, Ettumanoor Radhakrishnan and M Sunil belonged to the official faction, K Ranjith, K Narayanan Master, P J Thomas, Velliyamkulam Parameswaran and T R Ajith have allegiance to the faction led by P K Krishnadas.
The leadership has failed to arrive at a consensus on the T’Puram district president. While the incumbent Karamana Jayan, having loyalty to Krishnadas faction, was denied another chance, the official faction’s move to bring in Venganoor Satheesh to the post met with stiff resistance.
According to reliable sources, the names of state secretaries V Sivankutty, J Padmakumar, district secretary S Suresh and P Ashokkumar, parliamentary party leader of BJP in the T’Puram Corporation Council, have been considered for the post. But Sivankutty has a clear edge in view of his acceptance by the official faction. RSS also is positive to the proposal, it is learnt. Sources said that any change in the state general secretaries would be unlikely. In that case, A N Radhakrishnan, K Surendran, K P Sreesan and organising secretary Umakanthan will continue. In case of A N Radhakrishnan being posted as vice-president M T Ramesh would become the general secretary. The incumbent vice-presidents Prathapa Chandra Varma, P N Velayudhan, Syamalaprbahu and Padmini Teacher are likely to be given another term.
A new face will be brought to fill the lone vacant post of vice-president. The post became vacant following the death of B K Sekhar. The president has to find new faces to head various morchas. Mahila Morcha state president Sobha Surendran has been elevated to the national executive of the party. Another prominent leader, Rema Raghunandan, has been nominated to the national executive of Mahila Morcha. In their absence it is an uphill task to find a suitable candidate. Yuva Morcha state president V V Rajesh has been nominated to the national executive and has been offered a post in the central office-bearers panel. P Sudheer (T’Puram), R S Rajeev (T’Puram), Prakash Babu (Kozhikode), Shyju (Ernakulam), Aneesh (Thrissur) and George of Chalakudi are the likely candidates for the post.