Thiruvananthapuram: BJP state president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai and former Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan were asked to reach New Delhi on Saturday as their central election committee is expected to announce the BJP candidates. After severe arguments between V. Muraleedharan faction and Sreedharan Pillai at the core committee meeting at Kottayam on Monday, it was decided to give the Pathanamthitta seat to state general secretary K. Surendran much to Mr Pillai’s displeasure.
But Mr Pillai stated in a release that the news of happenings at the committee were baseless. He maintained that contrary to media reports, NDA will win seats in Kerala this time. With Muraleedharan staying firm on his stand that Surendran should contest from either Thrissur or Pathanamthitta, the state leadership was forced to take a favourable decision on Surendran. It may be recalled that Mr Pillai was keen to contest from Pathanamthitta.
A party source told DC that there was only a remote chance in favour of the BJP state president in getting a LS seat.
“The candidature panel was submitted before the BJP national leadership which has been prepared in front of the prabharis/election in-charges of Kerala, Y. Satya Kumar, BJP national secretary from Andhra Pradesh and former MLA from Karnataka, Nirmal Surana. In all probability, Mr Pillai has got only 10 percent chance to contest,” said a BJP source.
Another leader who is unlikely to get a seat is general secretary A.N. Radhakrishnan. His two other colleagues, M.T. Ramesh and Sobha Surendran are expected to contest from Kozhikode and Palakkad respectively. But a section of state BJP leaders feel that Ms Sobha Surendran should be fielded from Attingal Lok Sabha seat if the Congress is going ahead with sitting Konny MLA Adoor Prakash from there. It may be recalled that sitting Attingal MP, A. Sampath belongs to the Ezhava community where fielding Ms Sobha would enable to consolidate Ezhava votes from the triangular contest. Former BJP State president C.K. Padmanabhan is expected to contest from his home district, Kannur.
Immediately after the arrival of former Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan, he held talks with the mandalam in-charges of all the seven Assembly segments in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat.
