Vellapally's wife Preethi Natesan too had campaigned for him among the women members of SNDP Yogam.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan is peeved with the state BJP leadership for not giving it the right due in the Assembly elections. BJP sources told this newspaper that he had sent his son and Bharat Dharma Jana Sena president Tushar Vellapally to New Delhi to have talks with BJP national president Amit Shah.
A miffed Vellapally has told the BJP leadership that when BDJS wholeheartedly supported the BJP in the Assembly elections, but they did not get the due recognition in return. He has reportedly highlighted the issues in Mannarkkad (Keasavadas Puthumana), Shornur (V.P. Chandran), Kaipp-amangalam (Unnikris-hnan Thrishnath) and Kodungallur (Sangeetha Viswanathan) where the BDJS candidates had come only in third positions.
“Also, Mr Vellapally was upset with the way in which BDJS got election funds only towards the fag end of the campaigning. However, BJP candidates in several constituencies got the funds in advance and was way ahead in campaigning,” a BJP leader this newspaper.
Mr Vellapally had extensively campaigned for BDJS candidates as well as for BJP candidates across the state during the Assembly elections. He had reportedly ‘begged’ for votes in Chengannur constituency where the BJP’s former state president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai had contested.
Vellapally’s wife Preethi Natesan too had campaigned for him among the women members of SNDP Yogam. There are reports that BDJS had fewer supporters to work at the grassroot level on par with the BJP which must have forced Mr Vellapally to express his displeasure before Amit Shah. However, Mr Vellapally denied that he had given any complaint to Mr Shah. Tushar Vellapally was unavailable for comment.
Subhash Vasu, national general secretary of BDJS told this newspaper that both BJP and BDJS had worked together with great camaraderie and there were no issues between them. However, BJP sources said that the fault lies with former BJP state president and the party’s election committee chairman V. Muraleedharan who did not take the ‘alliance’ into serious consideration which resulted in delay in parting with the funds for the BDJS to campaign for the elections.
