Kerala: ‘Metroman’ exit from active politics deals blow to Kerala BJP

Several leaders have switched to an “inactive mode” after Surendran, Union MoS V Muraleedharan and state secretary (organisational matters) M Ganesh gained an upper hand in the party affairs, which was reflected by the recent organisational revamp at the state and district levels in which their loyalists got plump posts. Even some leaders of their faction, who faced corruption charges, were retained as district office-bearers.

Sreedharan’s bid to quit active politics has come at a juncture when the BJP has been witnessing the exit of workers from several districts, mainly in southern Kerala.

“After the Assembly elections, around 7,000 party workers have quit BJP from across the state. The disappointment runs across the party – from celebrity E Sreedharan to senior leaders, to grassroots level workers. The space of the BJP in Kerala is shrinking as no corrective steps have been taken after the poll debacle,’’ a party source said.

It was widely believed that there would be changes in the state leadership, which had come under the shadow of an alleged incident of looting of Rs 3.50 crore of election fund in April while it was being brought through hawala channel from Karnataka. However, the firm backing of the BJP central leadership helped Surendran to overcome the crisis, at least for now.

The BJP high command’s reluctance to put its state unit in order continues even as the ruling CPI(M) and the principal Opposition Congress have been on a “rectification drive” after the elections.

Despite its consecutive victory in the Assembly polls, the CPI(M) has cracked the whip on even its senior leaders in seats where the party won with a comfortable majority. The Congress has revamped its unit by ensuring a change of guard in the Pradesh Congress Committee as well as the Legislature Party.

Referring to Sreedharan’s comment that he had been “despondent” after losing the Assembly polls in Palakkad, BJP sources said groupism in the party worked against Sreedharan in the constituency. “Party cadres from Palakkad were taken to other constituencies where the state leaders had high stakes. We could not leverage on him (Sreedharan),’’ sources said.

Another factor that led to Sreedharan pulling away from the state leadership seemed to be his appointment as one of the members of a three-member committee constituted by the central BJP to review the party’s Assembly elections debacle. While Sreedharan confirmed the committee’s existence, Surendran had been in denial over it.

After quitting active politics Thursday, Sreedharan, who was projected as the BJP’s CM candidate in the polls and was recently included in the party’s national executive, said “corrective steps” are required in the party’s Kerala unit.

Sreedharan’s exit from active politics has also triggered a debate in the BJP circles over whether the party has benefited from the induction of celebrities as well as turncoats from other parties. There is a perception that turncoats have been given plum posts in the party, while senior leaders who worked hard were made to wait.

BJP sources point to the rehabilitation of A P Abdullakutty, who had switched to the BJP from the Congress, as party national vice-president, although it has not helped the party in improving its appeal to the minority Muslim community.

Similarly, BJP leaders were not happy when former CPI(M) legislator Alphons Kannanthanam was made a Rajya Sabha member and a minister in the previous NDA government.

By joining the BJP early this year, Sreedharan paid a price in his home state, where he has been reckoned as the last word on infrastructure development. Kerala had assigned the construction of the Kochi Metro to the DMRC by taking into account Sreedharan’s close association with it. But after he joined the BJP, the CPI(M) unleashed a scathing attack on him. Sreedharan also, in turn, mounted a counter-attack, castigating the CPI(M), Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and the LDF government’s infra projects.