Thiruvananthapuram: SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan and his son and Bharat Dharma Jana Sena national president Tushar Vellapally are peeved with the NDA leadership and are reportedly exploring options to get closer to the Congress as the promises made by BJP national president Amit Shah have so far been hollow.
Rumours have been rife that over the last several months that Subhash Vasu, national general secretary of BDJS, with the silent blessings of Mr Natesan had held talks with opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. It is reliably learnt that Mr Chennithala has offered the BDJS five seats which once belonged to the JSS led by K.R. Gowri Amma. It is understood that BJP national president Amit Shah had assured the NDA Kerala chapter that their long-standing demands of central boards would be fulfilled soon. The promise was made when Mr Shah came to Kerala to inaugurate BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan’s Janaraksha Yatra in October. The BDJS is sour that no promise was materialised and that the central BJP leadership is now busy with the Gujarat assembly elections.
Sources close to BDJS told DC that while they waited, the BDJS leadership was keen to tap options with both the LDF and UDF. “The Congress has given a blank offer to BDJS leader Mr Vasu. But Mr Tushar is not keen on joining hands with the Congress as he feels that there is nothing he can do, but wait for the central BJP leadership to turn around”, said a BDJS source to DC.
However, Mr Natesan came down heavily against the state BJP leadership and feigned ignorance about Mr Vasu’s role. “Is there an NDA movement in Kerala?” he wonderd while talking to DC. “The NDA allies were sidelined during the Janaraksha Yatra. There is no point in waiting for the central BJP leadership’s mercy when their state counterpart is leading a watertight compartment where no one will be allowed to join or leave.”
But a section of the Congress leaders is worried about the latest developments because they fear that its secular face and votes would be lost if the BDJS is roped into the UDF. “The Congress will also lose its minority votes as well,” said a senior Congress leader. “Neither chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan who is close to Mr. Natesan nor the LDF has given Mr Natesan a hope about roping them in to the LDF but has asked him to strengthen the SNDP Yogam instead. Moreover, the hype Mr Chennithala’s Padayorukkam has created will be lost if we cosy up to the BDJS.”
