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The BJP, in an all-out effort to make a big push in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the upcoming Assembly elections, has decided to rope in all like-minded political parties and groups in an alliance.
BJP President Amit Shah, along with four Central ministers, held detailed discussions with the party’s core committees in Tamil Nadu and Kerala at Aluva near here, on Thursday. Shah, who arrived on Wednesday night, set the ball rolling on finding new allies. According to BJP sources, he told the two core committees that winnability should be the main criterion for bringing in like-minded parties and groups — the allies should be able to help the BJP put its members in the two Assemblies.
The four Central ministers who took part in the deliberations were Health Minister JP Nadda, who is in charge of party affairs in Kerala; Power Minister Piyush Goyal and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, who are in charge of Tamil Nadu affairs; as well as Pon Radhakrishnan, Union Minister of State for Highways, the lone BJP MP from Tamil Nadu. The 10-member Kerala core committee included three former State party presidents, senior leader O Rajagopal and current President Kummanam Rajasekharan. Some of the Tamil Nadu core committee members who took part in the discussions were: State president Tamilisai Soundarajan, and senior leaders H Raja, Lakshman and L Ganesan.
First list of candidatesBJP sources told BusinessLine that almost all the members of the Kerala core committee except former president PS Sreedharan Pillai would contest the elections. Pillai had declined to stand for election. Kummanam Rajasekharan would most likely be fielded in Nemam, in Thiruvananthapuram district. A decision on fielding senior leader O Rajagopalan is to be taken later. The party will announce the first batch of candidates after February 20.
The initial list, shows that the interests of the V Muralidharan’s and PK Krishnadas factions in the Kerala unit have been taken care of.
Reiterating Shah’s instructions at the Aluva meeting, Rajasekharan later told the media that the BJP’s doors were open and that the party was ready to hold talks with those parties willing to come on board. “This time around, we are contesting the elections to win,” he asserted.
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