BJP picks Rahul Easwar, Suresh Gopi elusive

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The BJP has cast its net wide to rope in candidates with mass appeal from all segments of  society. It has selected   Hindutwa propagandist Rahul Easwar, 32,  son of Easwaran Nampoothiri and Mallika and the grandson of Kandararu Maheshwararu, senior thantri of Sabarimala, to try his electoral fortunes from Thiruvananthapu-ram, Kanjirapally or Thrissur.

Already,  actors Suresh Gopi and Bheeman Raghu, cricketer Sreesanth and  directors Rajasenan and Ali Akbar are in the provisional list of the BJP. A final  decision is likely before Friday evening when the BJP central election committee will meet in New Delhi.

“Efforts are still on to convince Suresh Gopi to contest from Thiruvananthapuram though he is keen to contest to the Lok Sabha,”  a top BJP leader told Deccan Chronicle. Currently, Rahul Easwar is  the co-ordinator of Kerala State Youth Commission. His family had a leaning towards the Congress, but now has joined the Hindutva brigade.

“Mahatma Gandhi had visited our home in Kerala in the 1930s and even Indira Gandhi had asked my grandfather to do a pooja for her family. My first preference is Thiruvananthapuram,”   Rahul Easwar told  DC.

Sreesanth will contest from Tripunithura replacing  Prof Thuravoor Viswambaran, whom the BJP had  chosen earlier.  Ali Akbar will be fielded from Koduvally in Kozhikode district.