Thiruvananthapuram: BJP state president P. S. Sreedharan Pillai has his task cut out with his national president Amit Shah asserting that he will not "entertain anything short of victory" in the Lok Sabha elections six months away.
Mr Shah was not aware of the seriousness of the protest on the Sabarimala issue until he had landed at Kannur airport.
He congratulated the state leadership for organising it and urged them to take it beyond the party bounds
A top leader said he was keen to see the involvement of partners. Already, Janad-hipathya Rashtriya Sabha (JRS) chairman and prominent tribal leader C. K. Janu had left the NDA.
“He feels that if there was a consolidation of Hindu votes and attracted a certain percentage of Christians, then a victory is not far away. He wanted to cash in on the current situation,” he told DC.
When state general secretary K. Surendran requested the CPM and Congress to help expedite the court proceedings on his Manjeshwaram election appeal, Mr Shah asked Mr Pillai to do the needful.
But a senior BJP leader maintained that the Manjeshwaram by-election would be held only along with the Lok Sabha elections.
If last time he lost it between the cup and the lip, this time Mr Shah is keen to see the party wins.
It is not yet decided whether Mr Surendran will re-contest from Manjeshwaram or choose the Lok Sabha contest.
