The core committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which met here on Saturday, has tentatively fixed December 20 as the date for election of the new State president for the party.
This date may be altered by a few days depending on the convenience of the person deputed by the Central leadership (formulator) to oversee the election process. The formulator, who is likely to arrive here next week, will be trying to work out a consensus for unanimous election of the State president.
Though the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) favours vice president V. Muraleedharan as the new president, there are differences of opinion in the party over the choice. Names of C.K. Padmanabhan and P.P. Mukundan are touted as alternatives to Mr. Muraleedharan. Given the groupism in the party, it would not be an easy task for the Central leadership to achieve a consensus. The leadership has assured the committee that the opinions of State leaders would be taken into consideration for the choice of the new president.
As per the party Constitution, the new president is to be elected before the end of December. The term of the incumbent P.K. Krishnadas ended early this month. The election of the State president would be preceded by elections at the booth, constituency and district levels.
Besides discussing the organisational elections, the committee also reviewed the party’s performance in the recent by-elections to the State Assembly from the three constituencies. The party had improved its votes share in the by-elections compared to its performance in the constituencies in 2006.
