THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Politicians promise many things at the time of elections knowing well that public memory is too short. Union minister and BJP leader Rajiv Prathap Rudy had said during one of his campaign speeches in Malappuram on April 8 that Kerala will get a union cabinet berth if the BJP wins a seat in the Assembly. But when Prime Minister Narendra Modi expanded his cabinet on Tuesday, Kerala was sidelined though Mr O. Rajagopal won from Nemom.
Mr Rudy had said, "take one and get one free is the marketing strategy of today. And if the BJP wins a seat in Kerala Assembly, the state will get a union minister." He also offered two berths in the union cabinet if the party gets two MLAs in Kerala. Mr Rudy had also hoped that the BJP would emerge as the single largest party in Kerala.
Mr Rudy and another senior central minister J. P. Nadda, who were in charge of the campaign in Kerala, were not available for comments. But a BJP general secretary said that Mr Rudy was not the decision-maker on the central ministry berths.
"It was improper for Rudy to give such false promises to the people of Kerala. Rudy made those remarks in the heat of the campaign and there is nothing more than that," he said. There are two Rajya Sabha MPs from Kerala, Richard Hay and actor Suresh Gopi, but the state BJP leaders said the two were unlikely to get any central cabinet berth.
