BJP banks on local poll gains to make inroads in Kerala

PARTY AIMS TO TARGET THE PINARAYI VIJAYAN GOVT ON THE GOLD SMUGGLING RACKET AND COVID-19 PANDEMIC

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is confident that the gains that it notched up in the Kerala local body elections that concluded in December are an indication of its growing support base in the state which will pick a new assembly a few months from now.

According to people aware of the details, the party won 3.575 million votes in the local body elections, about 17.20% of the total votes counted. “The party has done better in the local body elections as compared to the elections held in 2015. There has been an increase of about 35% in vote share and overall our members have grown from 1,200 to nearly 1,700 across all six corporations and we even have representation in places such as Kannur where the party was considered weak,” said the BJP’s state unit president K Surendran.

According to an internal report of the party, the BJP won 1,635 seats and finished second in 2,800 seats against both the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF). The party claims it lost 1,200 seats with a “thin margin” on account of cross-voting between the LDF and the UDF.

A senior party functionary in Delhi said the party had been buoyed by its performance in municipalities such as Palakkad, Pandalam, Trivandrum, Thalassari and Chengannur and was expecting a replay there in the forthcoming assembly elections.

In 2016, the BJP won a single seat from Nemom and its vote share was around 14%. The party is also counting on the support of Christians and a small section of Muslims. “There is a shift on the ground; many people belonging to the Christian and Muslim faith are also supporting the BJP because they are upset with the corruption-ridden state government. Take the case of

Pandalam municipality where the BJP wrested control from the LDF. BJP won 18 divisions in the 33-member municipality whereas last time it had won only seven divisions,” said the party functionary cited above.

As for the poll plank, the party will target the Pinarayi Vijayan government on the issues of a gold smuggling racket unearthed in July and its response to the Covid-19 pandemic. “We will focus on corruption, under-development and lack of jobs. Both Oommen Chandy (Congress) and Pinarayi Vijayan are two sides of the same coin. We will go to people with details about the gold smuggling case for which government officials are in jail, the assembly speaker is under the scanner and many people are involved,” Surendran said.

The campaign will take off with party president JP Nadda’s visit scheduled on February 3 and 4. According to a person aware of the details, Nadda is expected to address a rally in Thrissur and hold meetings with party leaders, office bearers and booth level functionaries in Trivandrum.