T’PURAM/ KASARAGOD: BJP state president K Surendran nominated district presidents for Kannur and Kasaragod on Sunday. While N Haridas will be the new district president of Kannur, K Shreekanth will head the Kasaragod unit of the party. For Shreekanth, this would be his third term as district president. On January 19, presidents of 10 districts except Kannur, Kasaragod, Kottayam and Ernakulam were announced. According to sources, disputes regarding the organisational elections had delayed the announcement. The district presidents for Kottayam and Ernakulam will be announced soon, party sources said.
Kuntar resigns
Shreekanth’s nomination has, however, triggered an immediate dissent with Ravisha Tantri Kuntar — a hopeful and favourite of the RSS — resigning from all party post, according to sources. They said Tantri has resigned from the BJP’s state committee. He would continue to be a member of the party but would not hold any leadership position in the party, they said.
Tantri, with the backing of RSS, had staked claim to be the president of the party in Kasaragod, delaying the declaration in the district. However, Shreekanth belonged to the camp of union minister K Muraleedharan. The scale tilted in favour of Shreekanth when Surendran, a protege of Muraleedharan, became the party’s state president.