BJP allies with BDJS for Kerala elections

A DAY AFTER IT SEALED A POLL PACT WITH THE AGP IN ASSAM, BJP RECEIVED ANOTHER SHOT IN THE ARM WHEN THE BDJS ANNOUNCED ITS DECISION

NEW DELHI: A day after it sealed a poll pact with Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) in Assam, the BJP received another shot in the arm on Thursday with Ezhava leader Vellapalli Natesan’s Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) deciding to forge an alliance for the assembly elections in Kerala.

“The BDJS has joined the NDA unconditionally. We will bring about a change in Kerala. More nationalist forces will join us,” said health minister JP Nadda, who is also the BJP’s election in- charge for Kerala. BDJS president Tushar Vellapally, who is Natesan’s son, was also present when the announcement was made.

Natesan, the general secretary of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana ( SNDP) Yogam, a social movement that propagates the values of social reformer Sree Narayana Guru, floated the new political party in December 2015.

Hindus account for 1.82 crore of the 3.34-crore population of Kerala, of which Ezhavas are a majority community.

The B JP also formally announced its pacts with the AGP in Assam, saying the poll next month will be a contest between “all indigenous people” led by it on one side and Congress and the UDF on the other.

The AGP will contest 24 of the 126 seats while the remaining 102 seats will be distributed between the BJP, the Bodloland Peoples Front and other partners of the NDA. The BPF is expected to get 16 seats. The BJP contested 120 seats last time and won 5 while AGP won 10 out of 104 seats it contested. BPF’s performance was better as it won 12 out of 29 seats on which it fielded candidates.

“The massive infiltration in the state with the collusion and patronage of the Tarun Gogoiled Congress government will be our main poll issue besides freeing the state of corrupt and non-developmental rule,” telecom minister Ravishankar Prasad said.

The BJP- led alliance will come out with a common minimum programme for Assam.