Absence of a charismatic second rung leadership in the State is reported to be vexing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national leadership that has laid out ambitious plans for Kerala in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
BJP president Amit Shah, who interacted with BJP leaders of the southern States, is reported to have directed the Tamil Nadu leaders to raise their preparedness to win maximum seats in the Lok Sabha elections and inquired about the party’s prospects in Kerala.
Party sources told The Hindu here that but for a list of familiar faces who had been in the electoral fray in all the elections, mostly State presidents and senior leaders, the State unit could not offer any fresh names.
Aiming high
This is reported to have annoyed the national leadership, which has categorically said that it would not be satisfied with just an increase in voting percentage as in the last Assembly elections, from about 6.9 per cent to 15 per cent and was not ready for any compromise, except palpable gains in terms of seats.
The general perception is that the State leadership was unable to derive optimum advantage of the resources invested in the State in the Assembly elections.
Even though the State unit was flush with funds and had a legion of national leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Shah, and a galaxy of Union Ministers for running the campaign, there was grave mismatch between the efforts and the outcome.
Senior leaders who had been in the fray over the years may opt out of the race and others are understood to prefer segments which they deem to be safe.
The national leadership wants the State unit to consolidate its position from Central Kerala to the South, other than the conventional strongholds such as Palakkad and Kasaragod.
This calls for thorough preparation and grooming an array of young leaders who could take taller electoral challenges.
National leadership wants the State unit to consolidate its position from Central to South Kerala.
