After Palakkad bypoll setback, open war in Kerala BJP, leaders snipe over candidate, campaign

While the Congress has been winning Palakkad since 2011, the BJP has been gathering up its ballot stock successful the seat. In 2011, the BJP got lone 19.86% of the polled votes, but this grew to 29.08% successful the 2016 Assembly polls. In 2021, Krishnakumar, who was besides the campaigner then, got 35.34% of the votes, conscionable a small down the 38.06% bagged by Shafi Parambil of the Congress.

In the caller bypoll, which was necessitated aft Parambil won the caller Lok Sabha elections from Vadakara, Krishnakumar could garner lone 28.63% of the votes, portion the Congress got 42.27% votes. The CPI(M)-backed Independent P Sarin seems to person eaten into the pie, getting 27% of the votes.

On Monday, elder BJP leaders blamed Krishnakumar for the party’s ballot stock dip. Party nationalist assembly subordinate N Shivarajan said helium had demanded the resignation of Palakkad BJP incharge C Raghunath six months agone and said helium was liable for the deficiency of coordination connected the ground.

“The occupation of the territory incharge is not to slumber successful an air-conditioned room. Raghunath could not adjacent triumph a ward successful his location territory of Kozhikode,’’ said Shivarajan.

Palakkad Municipal Corporation chairperson Prameela Sasidharan said it was incorrect to person picked Krishnakumar arsenic the candidate. “If the campaigner was idiosyncratic else, the party’s prospects would person been overmuch higher. We had told the enactment astir the issues successful fielding the aforesaid idiosyncratic arsenic campaigner again and again. We worked for him, but radical did not ballot for him. Don’t blasted america (councillors). There is nary constituent successful blaming the municipality for the mediocre show. Let the enactment analyse the reasons down the defeat,’’ she said.

Krishnakumar replied that helium was chosen arsenic a campaigner by the enactment cardinal leadership, adding that the BJP’s basal ballot slope remained intact.

“All my colleagues worked for the party. We are going to measure the predetermination result. Never earlier person we seen specified a monolithic and coordinated campaign. There is nary rift successful the party,’’ helium said.

Amid the nationalist sniping, BJP authorities president K Surendran said “The enactment would analyse the result”, but offered to measurement down from his station if the enactment cardinal enactment deemed it necessary.

“We could clasp the basal enactment votes, but could not pull much voters. The campaigner was selected by the enactment cardinal leadership, and the canvass result is corporate responsibility. As president, my show besides should beryllium audited. It is up to the enactment cardinal enactment to determine whether I should stay successful bureau till the word is implicit oregon I should measurement down,’’ helium said.

Leading up to the bypoll successful Palakkad, determination had been a batch of backmost and distant implicit whether Krishnakumar should beryllium fielded by the BJP oregon not. During the campaign, enactment person Sandeep Varier discontinue aft being denied the ticket, and aboriginal joined the BJP.

Varier openly said that alternatively of Krishnakumar, the BJP should person fielded either Surendran oregon BJP authorities vice-president Shobha Surendran to wrest the spot from the Congress.