NEW DELHI: With claims that the BJP is the real Opposition party in Kerala since the Left and the Congress are “bonding for grand alliance in New Delhi”, the BJP chief Amit Shah will seek to make his three days stay in the “God’s own country” a grand affair on the back of the membership of the saffron outfit having surpassed the 15 per cent vote share polled by the party in the 2016 state Assembly elections.
While the BJP has polled 21,29,726 votes in the 2016 Kerala Assembly elections, the total membership of the party is now over 23 lakh in the state, said a senior party functionary. “With a dedicated army of over 23 lakh ready in Kerala, the BJP chief will make it loud to all the opponents that the saffron outfit has arrived in the state in a big way to take an aim to gain power in the state. Shah has a meeting scheduled with the constituents of the NDA hailing from the state in Kochi on Friday during which he will seek a roadmap to challenge the hegemony of both the Congress and Left led fronts in the state politics,” added the BJP functionary.
The BJP chief will have a marathon meeting with the party functionaries who have been made in-charge of each of the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state on Saturday in Thiruvananthpuram. “Kerala figures high on the Mission South of the BJP and the party is seeking not just to open its score in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections but to emerge as the front-ranking political outfit in the state,” said the BJP functionary.
The BJP chief will also have all his ears for the intellectuals in Thiruvananthpuram on Saturday for which a number of Bishops have also been invited as part of the strategy of the saffron outfit to make base among the Christian constituencies, said the BJP leader. While Kerala has strongly reacted to the notification banning sale of cattle for slaughter, Shah, sources said, is poised to strike the note that the NDA government at the Centre is only following the direction of the Supreme Court and obeying the Constitutional directions.
The BJP chief will also camp in Booth Number 96 in Thiruvananthpuram as part of his exercise to establish direct contacts with the people. “The local BJP worker Rajnish will host the party chief in the polling booth,” said the BJP leader. Shah will also hold parleys with the party workers who have given their full time to propagate the ideology of the party ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay on Sunday in Thiruvananthpuram.