Communist Marxist Party (CMP) general secretary C.P. John has said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying its luck in the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala this time by fielding “guest artistes” as candidates.
Attending ‘Election Exchange’, an interactive session organised by the Calicut Press Club on April 23 (Tuesday), he said that most of the candidates of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) were not senior leaders. The senior leaders who had been contesting elections for the party for long were absent from the scene now.
“The BJP’s peak electoral performance in the State was in the 2016 Assembly polls, when they teamed up with the newly launched Bharath Dharma Jana Sena. After that, there has been a decline,” Mr. John pointed out.
The CMP leader, who hails from Thrissur district, wondered if there was a political agenda behind the disruption of Thrissur Pooram rituals this year. Blaming the Home department for the fiasco, he alleged that the police were trying to create a political situation favourable to Suresh Gopi, the NDA candidate from the constituency.
