The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asserted its confidence in transforming Kerala’s political landscape, predicting victories for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in a minimum of five Lok Sabha seats.
Additionally, it anticipates a substantial surge in vote share, surpassing 20%, and envisions the BJP-led coalition securing second place in many constituencies.
The party’s first State leadership meeting after the Lok Sabha polls here on Tuesday undertook a comprehensive post-poll stocktaking exercise and predicted an unparalleled performance at the hustings.
BJP Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar told mediapersons that the BJP would have the largest number of MPs in south India. In Kerala, several Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Congress supporters had voted for the BJP to enable the party to win “at least five seats”.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought a difference in Kerala politics. The State’s 75-year-old bipolar political landscape will now witness tri-polarity,” he said.
BJP State president K. Surendran claimed many Congress heavyweights, including incumbent MP in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency Shashi Tharoor, would suffer defeat.
He claimed the controversies surrounding NDA candidates in Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta, Shobha Surendran and Anil Antony, and alleged political power broker T.G. Nandakumar were part of an orchestrated ploy to undermine the coalition’s prospects.
Sources, however, claimed that the issue had paved the way for criticisms against the party’s State leadership. The alleged failure to back Ms. Surendran on the issue had created resentment among women voters. Some even flagged the repercussions that the controversy could have in attracting workers from other parties to the BJP in the future.
A few senior party leaders, including national executive member P.K. Krishnadas, M.T. Ramesh and A.N. Radhakrishnan, were conspicuous by their absence at the meeting. Some reports claimed the purported faction led by Mr. Krishnadas had demanded that the party’s core committee meet prior to the State leadership conclave to analyse the party’s performance.
Mr. Javadekar insisted the absence of a few members was not unordinary. They had sought the president’s permission. Moreover, he said there was no need for anybody to read any meaning into the absence.
