BJP faces crisis in Kerala as Palakkad leaders threaten resignation amid growing dissent from NDA allies

The immediate provocation was the appointment of Prasanth Sivan as the president of the party’s Palakkad East unit.
Representative Image
Representative Image File Image
Updated on
3 min read

KOCHI: With the party staring at a huge embarrassment, Monday was a day of trial and anxiety for the Kerala unit of the BJP. Eight Palakkad municipal councillors including the chairperson had decided to resign, making the leadership squirm as losing power in Palakkad would have been suicidal for the party. By the end of the day, however, the BJP state unit heaved a sigh of relief as the RSS intervened and assured the rebels that their grievances would be taken up with the national leadership.

The immediate provocation was the appointment of Prasanth Sivan as the president of the party’s Palakkad East unit. Palakkad municipality chairperson Prameela Sasidharan, national council member N Sivarajan and state treasurer E Krishnadas were among the leaders who had decided to resign.

“Six people had contested three posts in Palakkad district. The names of three, who received the most votes, were sent to Delhi. There was an emotional reaction as a seventh person, who was not in the race, was appointed the Palakkad East district president. The RSS leadership intervened and convinced us,” a senior BJP leader from Palakkad told TNIE. He said the RSS leaders shared their concerns.

“They assured to take it up at the right forum. There was no decision to resign from the party. We the BJP men stand for some values and cannot take emotional decisions,” he said. 

NDA allies raise voice of dissent

“The meeting of discontented leaders was convened to convince them,” the leader said.

Meanwhile, BJP state president K Surendran dismissed reports of crisis in the party. Nobody will leave the party, he said.

The crisis in Palakkad came at a time when the NDA allies have been raising voices of dissent, alleging arrogance and a big-brother attitude on the part of the BJP state leadership.

On Sunday, a meeting of the Kottayam district committee of the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) passed a resolution urging the state leadership to leave the NDA and explore possibilities of joining either the LDF or the UDF. The resolution said the BJP leadership failed to implement promises given to the party, including chairman posts in various government bodies.

“The party which joined the NDA nine years ago has helped widen the support base, bringing the backward communities to the front. But the state leadership of BJP is not even willing to discuss political issues with its allies. In these circumstances, the party should explore the possibilities of joining either the LDF or the UDF,” the resolution said.

According to top BDJS leaders, almost all district committees have conveyed their displeasure with continuing in the NDA. However, BDJS president Thushar Vellappally said there is no move to leave the NDA fold.

“Some leaders at the local level have raised their opinions but the party has never thought of leaving the NDA. The party state executive will meet on February 1 and the circumstances that led to the resolution will be discussed. The BJP has given us some posts and there is no difference of opinion. We did not join the NDA for posts and our ideological commitment cannot be questioned,” he said.

A meeting of other NDA allies in Kerala -- including the Kamaraj Congress led by Vishnupuram Chandrasekharan and C K Janu’s Janadhipathya Rashtreeya Sabha -- had met last week and voiced their concerns about the highhandedness of the state BJP leadership. According to sources, the allies decided to sever ties with the NDA but deferred the decision for 15 days after BJP state in-charge Prakash Javadekar intervened.

Related Stories

No stories found.

X
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com