Resentment brewing in Kerala BJP as state leaders woo opponents with criminal charges

Thiruvananthapuram: Resentment is brewing in the Sangh Parivar outfits over the BJP in Kerala giving red carpet welcome to dissident local leaders from other parties irrespective of their shady past.

While Kerala Congress (Mani) local leader advocate Dhanesh Mathew Manjooran, who joined the BJP the other day, was earlier arrested in a molestation bid case, CPM local leader from Alappuzha district, Bipin C Babu, joined the BJP the other day, is facing allegations of dowry harassment.

CPM local leader from Thiruvananthapuram Madhu Mullassery, who joined the BJP on Wednesday, is facing allegations of financial irregularities.

BJP Kerala is on a mission to attract leaders from the other mainstream political parties especially to overcome the major embarrassment caused by party former state spokesperson Sandeep Varrier switching over to the Congress as well as the fall in vote share of the party at Palakkad assembly constituency which was considered as a highly prospective seat of the party.

In the last one week two CPM local leaders and one leader from the Kerala Congress (Mani), which is a coalition partner of the ruling CPM, joined the saffron camp and all of them received a red carpet welcome.

However, sources close to the RSS and other Sangh Parivar outfits said that giving a red carpet welcome to persons with shady past would only do more harm than good for the BJP.

Sources said that even as the BJP could defend that the allegations against Mullassery and Babu were politically motivated, the molestation bid case against Manjooran could not be considered as a politically motivated one.

Manjooran, who was a government pleader, told DH that the case was a fake one raised against him owing to professional vengeance. The case is now pending orders,

Manjooran, who joined the BJP from KC(M) the other day, was held by the police in a molestation bid case in 2016.

Bipin C Babu earlier faced allegations of assaulting and torturing his wife, who is also a CPM worker, over dowry and faced action in the party. Now a police case is also registered against him, which was alleged as a vindictive move by the CPM.

Mullassery, who was formally received by BJP state president K Surendran, to the party is also facing allegations of financial irregularities.