Kerala- The BJP senses an opportunity

KOCHI: With the State politics circling around the CPM-Madhani alliance the BJP is attempting to cash in on the CPM Hindu votes which are likely to get consolidated against this tie-up.

Though the BJP campaign is yet to make its presence felt among the public, house to house visits are being made by BJP workers to create an awareness on the possible threat of the LDF seeking votes for the PDP. There is a general feeling that consolidation of Hindu votes due to the Madhani effect is likely to help the UDF.

The BJP campaign managers say their focus is on propagating the idea that the UDF and LDF are two sides of the same coin in the matter of support of the PDP.

Earlier the UDF had an alliance with the PDP and now it is the LDF.

The Jama’at Islami has come out in support of the LDF which is an additional point for the BJP campaign. The polices of the UPA Government and the appeasement of the Muslims by the Left parties which ignore the poor section of other communities except during elections will be talking points for the BJP.

According to BJP state general secretary M T Ramesh the failure of both the LDF and UDF to address the needs of the people will be stressed.

The BJP will concentrate on Kasargod, Kozhikode, Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram constituencies where it expects to poll more votes than in the last Lok Sabha election. The total votes secured by the BJP in Kerala during the last election was 10 to 11 percent and this time they hope to increase that to 13 or 14 percent.

The BJP camp feels there is a chance of P K Krishnadas being elected from Thiruvananthapuram considering the number of votes that will be scored by prominent candidates and comparing that with the 2.25 lakh votes received by O Rajagopal last time.

Apart from LDF candidate P Ramachandran Nair and UD F candidates Shashi Tharoor, Neelalohithadasan Nadar and M P Gangadharan of the BSP and NCP respectively have a major stake and they are likely to take away more than 50,000 votes from both the Fronts, which can make a major change in the constituency.

P S Sreedharan Pillai, national committee member, says that the BJP has proved that it is a major party in Kerala through the last Parliament elections and local body elections. The BJP has become a decisive factor in some of the local bodies in the State.

He pointed out that the growing fundamentalism in the state during the last 20 years and Kerala’s becoming a training centre for extremist forces will be brought before the people in the campaign. The development projects implemented in Kerala when the NDA Government was in power at the Centre will also be highlighted by the BJP.

Responses