Thiruvananthapuram: Race on for next BJP president of the state

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With state president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai elevated as Mizoram Governor, there is again a hot race for the top post in the state party. Along with former president Kummanam Rajasekharan, those testing the waters will be general secretaries K. Surendran, M. T. Ramesh and Sobha Surendran. Pillai has demanded that youth should be given an opportunity to lead the party.

Surendran, 49, has the strong backing of V. Muraleedharan, union minister, and also B. L. Santhosh, national organising general secretary. Ramesh, 47, is backed by former state president P. K. Krishnadas whereas Sobha, 46, is a neutral candidate.Kummanam, who contested the Lok Sabha elections with RSS endorsement, is again its favourite. A senior RSS leader told DC that BJP national president Amit Shah and national general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao, who is in-charge of Kerala, were not initailly keen on Kummanam’s candidature. But due to the RSS pressure, the central BJP leadership relented, he said. However, Kummanam was defeated by Shashi Tharoor of the Congress by a huge margin.

Surendran who spent more than a month in jail on the Sabarimala issue has the best chance to grab the post. The Krishnadas faction is also lobbying for Ramesh. Sobha is now the national co-convener of Sadasyata Abhiyan, BJP's national membership drive headed by Shivraj Chouhan.

A section of state leaders has urged the central leaders not to delay the selection of Pillai’s successor.