THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The former state BJP presidents will not be allowed to contest the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, but will be deputed for the party’s campaign. This was stated by national president Amit Shah who was in Kochi on Monday to inaugurate the first anniversary of the launch of Bharat Dharma Jana Sena, the key ally of the NDA in Kerala. The former party presidents who had contested the Assembly elections this year along with the present president Kummanam Rajasekharan (Vattiyurkkavu) had tasted defeat except O. Rajagopal in Nemom.
The others are P. S. Sreedharan Pillai (Chengannur), P. K. Krishnadas (Kattakada), V. Muraleedharan (Kazhakkoottam) and C. K. Padmanabhan (Kunnamangalam). BJP general secretaries K. Surendran, Sobha Surendran, A. N. Radhakrishnan and M. T. Ramesh will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Kasargod, Palakkad, Thrissur and Pathanamthitta respectively. Mr Amit Shah feels that if the senior leaders too join the fray, they will not be able to campaign for other candidates in the state.
Already, the four general secretaries and former state presidents have been asked to work in two Lok Sabha constituencies. Actor Suresh Gopi may be given ticket from Thiruvananthapuram due to the pressure from BJP and RSS supporters. Though Mr Amit Shah is aware of Mr Sreedharan Pillai’s rapport with the minority communities in his constituency which might come in favour of him, the other former presidents would also clamour for seats. The state RSS leadership has opposed fielding Mr Muraleedharan from Thiruvananthapuram.
