THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Dissident BJP leaders in the state are understood to have petitioned party’s national president JP Nadda against the repeated postponement of the state core group meeting. The party’s topmost decision-making body in the state has not been convened even once after the dissidence broke out. According to a top source, 24 state-level leaders have signed the petition against the continuous postponement of the core group meeting. The dissidents have alleged that the party’s internal democratic setup has been totally stifled despite the Central leadership urging the state unit to reach out to them.
The core group meeting was slated to be convened immediately after the newly-appointed ‘prabhari’ (state in-charge) C P Radhakrishnan and his deputy V Sunil Kumar met the state office-bearers for the first time, in Kochi on November 20. But curiously, such a meeting did not take place. The core group was then slated to be held in Thrissur on December 1 but was again mysteriously postponed. According to the source, the state leadership is shying away from addressing the dissidence and trying to buy time till the local body election is over.
“The state leadership knows very well that the core group, which includes prominent leaders of rival factions as well as past state presidents and the centre’s representatives, would prevail upon them to rope in the dissident leaders like Sobha Surendran for the campaigning in the local body poll,” said a senior leader and core group member.
According to party insiders, the game-plan of the state leadership, to keep the dissidents at bay, is two-pronged. It wants to avoid sharing the spoils with the rebel leaders in case the party does exceptionally well in the local body poll. In case the party performs poorly, the blame can also be easily shifted on them. Realising this game plan, a prominent faction led by past president P K Krishnadas had told C P Radhakrishnan that any setback the party suffers in the election cannot be thrust on the dissidents alone without addressing the issue in the first place. They reminded that it was the state leadership that needs to be magnanimous in finding a solution to the imbroglio.
‘Buying time till local body elections are over’
The state leadership is shying away from addressing the dissidence and trying to buy time till the local body elections are over, according to a source.