Thiruvananthapuram: BJP state secretary Sobha Surendran has shot off a letter to national president Amit Shah alleging that the party’s former Palakkad district president C. Krishnakumar was hand in glove with controversial businessman V. A. Radhakrishan aka ‘Chakk’ and worked for her defeat in the Palakkad Assembly constituency. She also demanded the removal of Mr Krishnakumar as the party’s state secretary for his attempts to shield the businessman.
“BJP could not come first even in Palakkad municipality which the party rules,” she told the party president in the letter. “The party could not win the seat though it mustered over 40,000 votes.” The party had high hopes on winning the seat in the recently held election but the firebrand woman leader trailed Congress’s Shafi Parambil by 17,483 votes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had come to address the public rally at Palakkad on his first leg of campaigning. Ms Surendran alleged that Mr Krishnakumar had used the services of over 100 BJP and RSS workers from Palakkad in Malampuzha where he contested. Mr Krishnakumar had come a distant second at Malampuzha behind veteran CPM leader V. S. Achuthanandan.
Party sources told DC that she had raised the issue before the BJP core committee meeting which was held a day after the poll outcome was known. She also alleged that Mr Krishnakumar had played the spoilsport ever since her name was announced as the party candidate in Palakkad.
She was humiliated in public when Mr Krishnakumar inaugurated the election committee office even before she reached there and when he stayed away from the public meeting addressed by Suresh Gopi, MP. Mr Krishnakumar, however, told DC he is a disciplined party worker who would never resort to cheap tactics.
“Let the party probe my activities,” he said. “The district as well as the State leaderships have got firm belief in my work. She is resorting to demoralise the workers by leveling such baseless allegations,” he added.
