Resentment in Kerala BJP on moves to extend state president K Surendran's term

Thiruvananthapuram: The moves to further extend the term of BJP Kerala President K Surendran is learnt to be aggravating the infighting in the party.

Despite setbacks in the recent assembly by-polls, Surendran continues to enjoy support of party national leadership.

In a latest move, the party national leadership reportedly communicated to the state unit that district and mandalam committee presidents of the party who completed five years could contest again to the post.

This could pave the way for Surendran also to remain as party state president as he had also completed five years as the state president.

As per reports, a section in the party expressed their differences over the move at an online meeting of the leadership the other day and some of them even quit the meeting. The national leadership seems to be of the stand that Surendran shall continue till the 2025 local body polls and 2026 assembly polls.

Surendran was made the BJP state president in 2020 February after he shot to limelight by leading the stir against entry of women in the 10-50 age group to Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in 2018-19.

Though the party lost its maiden and lone assembly seat in the state in the 2021 election, it could open account to the Lok Sabha from Kerala in this general election.

The drop in party's vote share in the recent by-poll at Palakkad assembly seat was an embarrassment to the party as it was one of the few seats in Kerala where the party had high expectations.

But the BJP could make inroads even into CPM's vote bank in their citadel Kannur in the general election early this year.

Hence the party national leadership is learnt to be not succumbing to the pressure from the anti-Surendran camps for a change of guard in the party.