Rift in Kerala BJP Widens After Palakkad Assembly By-Poll Debacle

 Thiruvananthapuram: The defeat of BJP in the Palakkad assembly by-poll has triggered a rift in the state unit of the party with a section of leaders attributing the loss to the bad choice of candidate.

A faction of leaders has criticized BJP state president K Surendran for selecting C Krishnakumar as the candidate for the bypoll. The BJP lost the election to Congress's Rahul Mamkootathil by a margin of 18,840 votes.

Surendran, however, said it was up to the party's central leadership to decide whether he should continue in the post. "As the president of the state unit, I am willing to take responsibility for the electoral debacle. However, victories and losses in elections are the collective responsibility of the leadership," he stated.

He said the parliamentary board of the party, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and J P Nadda, scrutinized the list of candidates. The BJP follows a systematic process for candidate selection, he added.

“Veteran party leader Kummanam Rajasekharan, who was tasked with choosing the candidate, had recommended three names. Out of the three, two declined to contest. Krishnakumar was also reluctant to contest; however, when persuaded, as a disciplined soldier of the party, he agreed to enter the electoral fray, Surendran said.

The BJP had suffered setbacks in its traditional strongholds in the urban areas. While leaders close to Surendran accused the party councillors in Palakkad of lacklustre election work, Municipal Chairperson Prameela Sasidharan stated that the selection of Krishnakumar as the candidate led to the poll debacle. "Voters were unhappy with the decision to retain Krishnakumar as the candidate," she said.

A section of BJP workers mentioned that from Milk Society elections to the parliamentary elections, the party had only one candidate, Krishnakumar. This time, they were seeking a change.