Fresh blow to Cong as Kerala ex-cm’s daughter joins BJP

IN A setback for the Congress in Kerala ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, prominent party leader Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of Kerala ex-cm K Karunakaran, joined BJP in Delhi Thursday.

This comes almost a year after Anil Antony, former Kerala CM A K Antony’s son, joined the BJP and during a week when party leaders from Gujarat to Uttar Pradesh jumped ship.

“The Congress leadership created a situation forcing me to take such a decision,” Padmaja said. “In the elections (2021 Assembly polls, when she contested from Thrissur), the Congress defeated me. I know who worked against me. I complained about it to the party but no action was taken."

Padmaja told media in Delhi that she joined BJP without any condition. “They haven’t asked me to contest. I haven’t demanded a RS seat,’’ she said.

The decision took the Congress by surprise as it came three days after Padmaja participated in party rallies in Thrissur. She shared posts of the party on her social media accounts on Wednesday too. Padmaja’s brother and the Congress’s Vadakara MP K Muraleedharan criticised his sister and said he was “snapping all ties with her”.

Muraleedharan who is seeking re-election from Vadakara for a second time, said, “The voters of Vadakara knew me very well. They know that I am fighting steadfastly against the BJP and its communalism. Padmaja joining the BJP will not affect the elections in Vadakara. The soul of my father will not condone her.”

Senior Congress MLA and former Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said

Padmaja’s decision was unfortunate. “However, it will not affect the prospects of the Congress in Kerala. The Congress gave her due consideration and opportunities,” he said.

Padmaja, according to party insiders, had been sulking since losing the Assembly elections and was looking forward to getting a RS nomination. But the party did not consider her. She would not have received a Lok Sabha poll ticket as the Congress has decided to field all sitting MPS. Padmaja was also said to have been unhappy after her nominees were not accommodated in Thrissur during the reconstitution of the district Congress committees.

Padmaja’s entry has provided the CPI(M) with the opportunity to project the Congress as a party that adopts “soft Hindutva line”. With Congress leaders elsewhere in the country flocking to the BJP, CPI(M) leaders had been trying to emphasise that “today’s Congress is tomorrow’s BJP”.

Earlier, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan told the media, “Every day, scores of Congress leaders are joining BJP. Antony’s son joined the BJP. Karunakaran’s daughter is all set to join the BJP. The Congress has lost credibility in fight against the BJP.”

Padmaja joined politics at a time when her father and brother were at the forefront of state Congress politics. In the 2004 LS polls, Padmaja contested from Mukundapuram (now Chalakudy) but lost.

Karunakaran and Muraleedharan left the Congress in 2004 and formed the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran). But they returned to the Congress in 2007, with Padmaja playing a crucial role in bringing them back. Padmaja contested Assembly polls in 2016 and 2021 and lost. She was recently appointed Congress general secretary.