The central committee meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala on Friday failed to appease a section of leaders who had raised the flag of revolt against the style of operation of state President K Surendran, said a senior leader who attended the the meeting.
In the midst of the local body elections, considered semi-final before the assembly elections to be held in five months, the central party leadership had issued an ultimatum to the state unit to put the house in order and summoned Surendran to Delhi last week.
Dissent in the unit came to light after a section was marginalized after Surendran’s elevation. Top leaders Shobha Surendran, PM Velayudhan and KP Sreesan have openly expressed their discontent.
In the state unit there are two prominent groups: one led by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs V Muraleedharan and the other by senior leader PK Krishnadas. The state president is reported to be close to the junior MEA and the other faction alleged that many high-ranking officials were marginalized after his elevation.
But Surendran denied this saying that the dissent in the party was the creation of a section of the media. “We had the central meeting to discuss the strategy for the local body elections. Dissent is just a media creation. The state unit is united and we will face the vote as a single bloc, “he said. But a high-ranking leader among the dissidents said that if the party goes to the polls of the local body under the current conditions, the result will be disastrous.
There are reports that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is also upset at the growing dissent in the party. Shobha Surendran and many other leaders stayed away from the central committee meeting on Friday. When contacted, Shobha Surendran refused to speak.
“Some of the senior leaders who were in the party for a long time were marginalized for more than seven months. The current leadership did not recognize the people who actually worked. It is the duty of leadership to bring everyone with them, ”said the senior leader, admitting that the situation was fluid. He said that at least 300 block and district leaders were staying away from active politics. A senior RSS leader also said the political situation was fertile for the party in the context of the gold and narcotics smuggling cases that had taken over the ruling administration, but infighting threatens to ruin the party’s opportunities. .
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