BJP infighting in Kerala comes to fore

Amid all-out efforts by BJP national leadership to open an account in Kerala, the infighting among state party leaders comes to the fore.

BJP state president K Surendran and Sobha Surendran were involved in an exchange of words the other day.

The saffron party recently kicked off its campaigns in the state aimed at the 2024 Lok Sabha polls with union home minister Amit Shah addressing a party meeting in Thrissur earlier this month.

The party's national leadership is likely to chip in to ensure that the state leaders do not indulge in infighting. Though the BJP has been steadily improving its electoral performance in Kerala over the last few elections, in the 2021 Assembly elections it lost its lone and maiden sitting seat in the state and its vote share also suffered a decline by around 2.5 per cent.

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The Infighting among the top state leaders of the party has been brewing for quite some time now and it aggravated as senior leaders like Sobha and M T Ramesh were unhappy over the elevation of Surendran to the state president post in 2020. Surendran attained much prominence following the stir against the entry of women in the 10-50 age group to the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple.

Sobha had even conveyed her resentment to the party national leadership and there were speculations that she may be given some posts of national importance. But it also did not materialize.

BJP national leader in charge of Kerala affairs Prakash Javadekar had been trying to settle the differences among the party state leaders to ensure smooth electioneering.