The high profile visit of BJP president Amit Shah to Kottayam, the headquarters of Central Travancore politics, on Thursday has raised a lot of political interest as it is seen as the beginning of the second leg of the tactical efforts on the part of the party to take a foothold on the electoral politics in the State: the first being the not-so-successful attempt to woo Ezhava votes in the run up the local body elections through the good offices of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam.
However, many have pointed to the perceived lack of home work done by the State and local leadership of the party in turning this into a virtual launch pad for them into the electoral arena.
The agrarian crisis, especially the crisis in the rubber sector, could have been handled by the party in an effective manner, it is believed. Both the UDF and the LDF have taken up the issue through agitations putting the BJP and the Central government on the defensive.
Not only has the party taken up the issue, but has also not made use of the opportunities the crisis threw up during the fasting by the Kerala Congress (M) [KC(M)]. Moreover, the inordinate delay in the reconstitution of the Rubber Board, believed to be a result of internal squabbles in the party, too remain to be resolved.
The wooing of Christian votes through the Kerala Congress has always been a tactical stance of the party. However, many believe that the party has not been successful in exploiting the difficult situation the KC(M) is in. While a formal alliance could be a distant dream, the present situation could have been used for “creating an atmosphere of goodwill” as one leader admitted.
However, the worst disappointment on the part of the BJP leadership appears to be the failure to mend its relations with the NSS. The NSS leadership had come down heavily on the BJP during the Mannam Jayanthi meet.
However, party State president Kummanam Rajasekharan was quick to respond and extend an olive branch to the NSS leadership. In spite of the fact that the incidents that led to the outburst were local in nature, there had been no follow up.
Meanwhile, many believe that these failures are part of the general apathy on the part of the current BJP leadership to play the political game as other political parties play since the LDF and the UDF were providing them with enough fodder to launch a frontal attack against them and the strong support they have from the central leadership.
Party’s second bid to take a foothold in the State
Crisis in the rubber sector may be a key issue
