Thushar Vellappally
Credit: X/@thushar_vn
Thiruvananthapuram: Bharat Dharama Jana Sena (BDJS), a key coalition partner of the BJP in Kerala, is under pressure from within the party to end the ties with the saffron party citing lack of considerations.
The fresh moves could be even a pressure tactic of BDJS as alliance with BDJS is considered to have helped the BJP in making inroads to the Hindu - Ezhava vote banks.
While BDJS state leadership is meeting on Saturday to discuss the issue, BJP Kerala state president K Surendran expressed hopes that BDJS would not leave the NDA.
The Kottayam district leadership of the BDJS that met on Sunday had passed a resolution demanding the party to end the alliance with BJP. BDJS president Thushar Vellappally was also present at the meeting.
Lack of adequate consideration for the party by the BJP is the reason. The poor performance of BJP in the recent Lok Sabha polls as well as assembly bypolls are also reasons for the BDJS to review its association with BJP.
Earlier there were speculations that Thushar may be given a Rajya Sabha seat by the party. He had contested as NDA candidate in the Lok Sabha elections at Wayanad in 2019 (against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi) and at Kottayam in 2024. The party's vote share in the 2024 Lok Sabha election was only around 2.5 percent.
BDJS was formed by SNDP Yogam, a forum of the Hindu-Ezhava community, which is the largest Hindu community in Kerala. SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan had announced the formation of BDJS in 2015.
Sources said that the BDJS leadership will think twice before taking a decision on ending alliance with BJP. Both Thushar and Natesan had earlier faced various allegations of financial irregularities. Thushar even faced allegations of trying to poach MLAs of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). Hence the two could even come under probe by central agencies in case of hostility with the NDA.