BJP mulling over party's Kerala unit chief

Thiruvananthapuram (The Uttam Hindu): With the BJP's organisational elections around the corner at the national and state levels, the party's central leadership is mulling over a president for its Kerala unit. A new set of office bearers is expected to be in place in the new year, when the BJP will replace its incumbent state president K. Surendran who has been at the helm of affairs since February 2020, when the then president P. Sreedharan Pillai was given a gubernatorial post. Even though the choice of the then 54-year-old Surendran came as a surprise, his term saw the BJP in Kerala having mixed fortunes. Under Surendran, the BJP lost the only sitting seat Nemom constituency in the 2021 Assembly polls. But three years later, popular actor Suresh Gopi won the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Thrissur, trouncing the Congress candidate who finished in third place. Gopi won with a margin of over 70,000 votes. The national leadership has a tough call to make as the state unit here faces alleged factionalism with the party between Surendran, former Union Minister of State V. Muraleedharan on one side and with leaders like P. K. Krishnadas, M. T. Ramesh on the other side, while firebrand Sobha Surendran keeping everyone guessing. Incidentally, on a few occasions, the national leadership expressed its displeasure over factionalism preventing the steady growth of the party in Kerala. A media critic on condition of anonymity said the problem with the BJP here is the lack of tall leaders.

"The present top leaders in Kerala have been around for a while and that’s what one sees when during election time, the same set of leaders are contesting. It's time the national leadership have to think out of the box and spring a surprise," said the critic. Thinking out of the box means considering names like former MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar and perhaps even Gopi, but the problem with these names is they have little connection with the grassroots. Another name which might excite the hardcore BJP cadres here is Sobha Surendran. Meanwhile, Muraleedharan has categorically ruled himself out as a contender for the post which he held for two terms. So, all eyes are on the BJP' s national leadership as the local bodies polls are scheduled for 2025 and the Assembly polls in 2026.