BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on mission to win more president votes

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: BJP general secretary Ram Madhav is expected to visit the state this week to explore chances of winning over a few legislators ahead of the July 17 Presidential election. Even one vote more than that of party MLA O. Rajagopal would be a tactical win for BJP which targets KC (M). But Jose K. Mani MP had seconded Meira Kumar’s nomination, and he says ‘No’. Apart from the ‘assured’ lone vote, BJP is working hard as they treat it as an ‘ideological fight’ against the LDF. BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan says talks are on.

“We have spoken on the phone and in person to several MLAs. But so far they have not committed voting for Ram Nath Kovind. Let’s see how things will progress in the coming days,” he told DC. He is not aware of any party programme Ram Madhav had here. The national leadership on a ‘poaching mission’ in many states like Kerala to garner maximum votes for Mr Kovind. Already, Mr Rajasekharan, who is also the NDA chairman in the state, and its convener Tushar Vellapally had come out with an open appeal seeking the support of rivals.

“Kummanam has been approaching several allies including independent MLAs and also Kerala Congress (M) chairman K. M. Mani as per the diktat of the central BJP leadership. The coming days will reveal whether we would be able to score an ideological edge over the CPM,” said a former BJP state president. However, the KC (M) MP denied that the BJP leadership had approached him amid reports from New Delhi that already BJP national president Amit Shah had visited him at his apartment there last month. “There have been no discussions with the BJP at any levels. In fact, I too had signed the nomination papers of Meira Kumar. These allegations are 100 percent baseless,” he told DC.