Tom Vadakkan joins BJP, eyes ls seat from Thrissur

Thiruvananthapuram: The arrival of Tom Vadakkan, a Congress leader without followers, into the BJP fold has put the saffron party in a dilemma. The BJP has to find a seat for him, especially as he has been eyeing the Thrissur seat without success since 2004.

Though the Congress leaders have not commented about Vadakkan jumping into the BJP bandwagon, the AICC is uneasy as he belongs to the minority community. He was close to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, but Rahul Gandhi sidelined Vadakkan, former AICC secretary and party spokesman.

Vadakkan told reporters in New Delhi that he would decide his future course of action after talks with the BJP central leadership. The state BJP leadership came to know of Vadakkan’s move late on Wednesday night.

“A decision on his candidature will be taken at the highest level. Vadakkan may not have followers in Kerala. But the AICC leadership is worried as he is a minority leader who has joined a Hindu party,” said a former BJP state president.

Currently, BDJS president Tushar Vellapally is being considered for Thrissur seat as NDA candidate. BJP state general secretary A. N. Radhakrishnan has been hoping to get Chalakudy.

A senior Congress MLA said, “Vadakkan never had any stake in Kerala. He cuts a sorry figure as he has joined the BJP to get a seat,” he said. In 2009, when Ramesh Chennithala’s Kerala Raksha Yatra reached Thrissur, Vadakkan had upstaged Thrissur DCC president C. N. Balakrishnan and welcomed the Yatra, he recalled.

The AICC now has nine senior spokespersons and 26 spokespersons comprising MLAs and MPs.