Is BJP central leadership responsible for their Kerala bypoll defeat?

Mararji Bhavan, the BJP Kerala State Committee Office exploded with joyful rumbles of the BJP workers on May 19, 2016. That was the day when O Rajagopal got elected from the Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram district making himself garner a seat for his party since the formation of Kerala. Between a posse of workers, Major (retd) Lal Krishna, who was then the secretary to BJP State President Kummanam Rajasekharan said then,”Watch out for Chengannur, it’s quite interesting”.

See also:Chenganoor proves BJP as an irresistible force in Kerala: K.Surendran

With a sizeable chunk of Hindu votes, Chenganoor in Central Kerala is a traditional Congress bastion. In the 2016 elections the seat was won by KK Ramachandran Nair of CPM who had defeated PC Vishnunath, two time MLA of the Congress, with a margin of 7983 votes.PS Sreedharan Pillai, the former State President of BJP, then finished third with only 2215 votes behind the Congress candidate.

The untimely death of KK Ramachandran Nair on January 14 forced Chenganoor to another election. Prior to the bypoll all the political parties got nearly 5 months to prepare and work hard. The BJP was the last one to declare its candidate, PS Sreedharan Pillai, who was a native of Chenganoor.

The BJP State President Kummanam Rajasekharan, who had been an RSS Pracaharak, chalked out the strategies for Chenganoor with the help of the local RSS leaders.The BJP tried its level best to outsmart the Hindu face of Congress D Vijayakumar, who was also the Vice President of Ayappa Seva Sangham, a body which helps the pilgrims to Sabarimala.

Utilizing the time factor well, BJP’s campaign was one step ahead of the opponents.They at any circumstances was sure about a second position.It was at this crucial moment Kummanam was appointed as the Governor of Mizoram by the Central Government, that too a day before the Chenganoor poll date. So imagine what happens amidst a fiery war, if the general retires.

This sudden removal of their head caused confusion among the workers, especially with the RSS cadres who were definitely not happy with the central BJP’s decision.Though the top brass of the party convinced Kummanam to accept the position, it definitely created a breach of trust with BJP’s parent organisation.

Kummanam sans a primary membership in BJP had been deputed at a time when the factionalism was at its peak in the Kerala BJP.Under Kummanam, BJP got its first legislator in the Kerala assembly.More than that BJP fared well and came second in 7 constituencies.Kummanam’s tenure as the BJP President gave a ‘new life’ for the party in Kerala.

There were many in the party who had a reservation in Kummananm’s appointment and his style of working, but they fell in line with the former Pracharak’s works. Although there had been rumours about Kummanam’s induction to the Central Minsitry, his appintment as the Governor of Mizoram came as a surprise for all. It seems that the party bosses’ calculation to woo the voters in Chenganoor through a ‘promotion’ to Kummanam has gone haywire.

The LDF government with all the mis use of power, bad governance, creating uncertainty in government employments and all the umpteen cases of political murders, rapes, the lawless situation, was been in a very shameful condition. The Government was facing all the criticisms from different quarters reagrding the custodial death of Sreejith, and also other major law and order problems like rising political murders, the extravagance of CPM ministers etc. Inspite of all these negative things , they have won with a historically huge margin of 20,956 votes! It has given an opportunity for CM Pinarayi Vijayan to establish that the people are always behind CPI(M) no matter what.

“There was no wall to paint the picture”, these were the words of UDF candidate D.Vijaya Kumar, a day before counting.

The question that BJP should ponder about is, Why Sreedharan Pilla finished with 7412 fewer votes than 2 years before? The answer is simple. Because he could not make use of the 3% surge in polling and also he lost 7000 votes from his own kitty. If BJP had come second in Chenganoor bypoll, it would have benefited BJP in the 2019 general elections.

The Chenganoor was a chance for the BJP to become the main opposition party in Kerala and thanks to the central leadership they have just lost it.

(This report has been edited by East Coast Daily. Original report Courtesy: Anu Narayanan, News18)