Thiruvananthapuram: BJP national president Amit Shah will be in Kerala for a one-day visit on Tuesday to prep the leadership for 2019 Lok Sabha elections even as the state unit grapples with factionalism amid the search for a new chief.
The issue of appointing a new Kerala BJP chief is likely to dominate discussions as the post has been vacant since Kummanam Rajasekharan was posted as Mizoram Governor in May.
The ‘transfer’ of former RSS pracharak Rajasekharan had upset the Sangh’s state leadership as they were reportedly not consulted before the move.
Though discussions to zero in on a new state chief are going on at different levels in the saffron party, a consensus is yet to evolve among the leaders.
The names that have being suggested by the state leaders are K Surendran, MT Ramesh and AN Radhakrishnan. They are seen as nominees acceptable to all factions. Surendran is considered close to V Muraleedharam. The other two are seen to be close to PK Krishna Das, the former state president of the BJP.
"MT Ramesh had a great chance, but the allegations in the medical college scam allegations might prove to be a dampener," said a BJP leader.
Former chief P Sreedharan Pillai is also a contender.
A decision on the new state chief is likely to be made within a week of today’s meeting.
The core committee meeting will include a presentation from the state leaders on the roadmap for 2019 elections. Amit Shah is also likely to set a seat target for the state leadership.
Amit Shah will also meet the RSS state leadership at 7 pm on Tuesday.
“We will tell him of the need to appoint a new state president at the earliest. The work has been stagnant as the top post fell vacant. We will also talk about the infighting and factionalism that has increased,” a source in the RSS said.
Comments
0 comment