Will BJP's gamble on Rajeev Chandrasekhar pay off?

Thiruvananthapuram: The BJP seems to have made an experiment, worth hailing, in Kerala by bringing in technocrat-turned-politician Rajeev Chandrasekhar to lead the party in Kerala instead of one from among the state leaders.

Amidst criticism that Chandrasekhar's inexperience in Kerala politics could be a setback, he had shown his political instinct on the opening day as BJP state president itself by quoting a preaching of social reformer from the Hindu - Ezhava community Sree Narayana Guru at a time when the BJP has been successfully making efforts to tap the Hindu-Ezhava votes, which is the largest Hindu community in the state.

"Become enlightened through education, strengthened through organization, and prosperous through hard work." – Sree Narayana Guru, Chandrasekhar quoted.

Political observers find many advantages in Chandrasekhar's appointment - averting the chances of the infights in the party and cashing in on his high profile.

In his maiden address after taking over as the state president from K Surendran, Chandrasekhar said that his mission would be to implement Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Viksit Kerala vision that involved the overall development of "all sections and all religions". 

He also reminded that he got around 3.5 lakh votes with hardly 35 days campaigning in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Thiruvananthapuram and hailed the efforts of the party workers.

Senior political observer J Prabhash points out that since none of the BJP state leaders eyeing the state president post were mass leaders or crowd pullers, the 'strategic move' to bring in Chandrasekhar won't  trigger any resentment among the party's rank and file. Moreover, since the RSS leadership is closely involved in the decision, the party cadres will fall in.

He also cautioned that the communist parties would have to be more cautious as the BJP is trying to woo the Ezhava votes, which were considered to be the vote base of the communist parties.

It was evident in the last Lok Sabha polls as BJP that came first in 11 Assembly segments made much gains in CPM strongholds.

Prabash also said that as BJP tries to become stronger in Kerala, the Congress could get the advantage of a counter consolidation of the Muslim community, which constitutes 27 percent of state's population, as well as a large section of Christian votes.

With BJP trying to cash in on the high profile of Chandrasekhar, the Congress may be also forced to bring in high profile leaders like Shashi Tharoor to the forefront to take on him.

Incidentally, Tharoor, who faced a tough contest from Chandrasekhar in the Lok Sabha polls, said in a congratulatory tweet to Chandrasekhar on Monday, "Looking forward to crossing swords again!"

Electioneering kicked-off

With party national leaders, including union minister Pralhad Joshi and Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar, attacking the Congress - CPI(M) bipolar politics in Kerala, the taking over function of Chandrasekhar literally turned out to be the kick off of the electioneering for the  local body poll that are due this year and the state assembly poll that is hardly a year away. 

Chandrasekhar is likely to begin his work with a state-wide tour, especially to familiarise himself with the people and the rank and file of the party.

Meanwhile, the BJP also accommodated all prominent leaders who switched over from other parties in the 30 members to the national council from Kerala.  Congress leader and former defence minister A K Antony's son Anil Antony, former chief minister K Karunakaran's daughter Padmaja Venugopal and P C George, who was a former leader of regional party Kerala Congress, are among them. It could be also interpreted as a message to woo more leaders from rival camps.