BJP candidates’ list likely to be out today

Thiruvananthapuram: Confusion prevails in the state BJP leadership over the candidates especially in Pathanamthitta seat. BJP parliamentary board meet which started by Tuesday afternoon is expected to announce the candidates in the wee hours of Wednesday. RSS state leadership is already upset with the way the media has been projecting the ‘dispute’ in the selection of candidates, especially in Pathanamthitta.

BJP state general secretary M. T. Ramesh said in a television debate on Tuesday that almost three days ago itself the BJP state leadership had zeroed in on right candidates for all the constituencies the party is contesting. But Ramesh who announced that he will not be contesting in the Lok Sabha elections was careful not to reveal the names.

However, a senior BJP leader from New Delhi told DC that initially, when the list was submitted before the central leadership, the first choice was state general secretary K. Surendran and then BJP state president P. S. Sreedharan Pillai for Pathanamthitta seat.

“But BJP national president Amit Shah initiated an internal enquiry in Pathanamthitta which revealed that Sreedharan Pillai has got an edge there due to NSS leadership as well as the Christian communities’ support.

This was sensed by Sreedharan Pillai which saw his confidence level surging.

But Surendran did a blunder by initiating a social media campaign in favour of him which has not gone down well with Amit Shah”, said a BJP leader.

However, it is the RSS state leadership’s intervention which is going to be crucial as they are favouring Surendran in Pathanamthitta.

At the Parliamentary Board meeting of the BJP in New Delhi, it is expected that Amit Shah will take a final call on the candidature in Pathanamthitta and it is going to be crucial whether he would want to antagonise the state RSS leadership.