Thiruvananthapuram: The NDA’s key ally, BDJS, faced the wrath of a section of BJP leaders at its core committee meeting over the BDJS demand for several Lok Sabha seats. They attacked the stand taken by BDJS president Tushar Vellapally that his party would hold talks on seat-sharing only with national president Amit Shah.
“Several district presidents of the BJP even demanded to know why the BJP should include BDJS as a key ally in the state chapter of the NDA. No decision has been taken on the candidature,” said a BJP source.
Earlier, the BDJS had demanded Attingal, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Alappuzha, Chalakudy, Thrissur, Wayanad and Alathur Lok Sabha seats. But the BJP was willing to allot Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Alathur, Wayanad and Idukki. But some leaders want to give only four seats to the BDJS. This has created a rift within the NDA.
The high-level meeting was chaired by BJP national organising general secretary V. Ramlal. National secretary in-charge of the state, H. Raja, also attended it. They participated in the meeting of booth in-charges held here later on the Lok Sabha elections.
The meeting decided to intensify the Sabarimala protests when the temple is reopened in the Malayalam month of Kumbham on February 13. The BJP will hold meetings from February 12 to March 2 ahead of the election preparations.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will attend the booth in-charges’ meeting at Pathanamthitta on February 14. Earlier, he was scheduled to visit the district on February 12.
