The Central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to be in a political quandary over inducting a State leader in the Narendra Modi Cabinet at the Centre.
Such an uncertainty would not have emerged had senior leader O. Rajagopal won the Thiruvananthapuram seat. Now, the 84-year-old leader may possibly be accommodated in a gubernatorial post. Sources said on Monday that none of the leaders from the State was likely to make it to the Ministry as Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi had made his preference clear for a small Cabinet.
Besides, Mr. Modi was likely to include technocrats and professionals in his team.
However, several names had been doing the rounds including party national secretary P.K. Krishnadas and State president V. Muraleedharan.
In any case, they would be considered only during the expansion of the Cabinet in a couple of months. Sources said the State Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leadership favoured Mr. Krishnadas and it had recommended the name of State vice-president M.T. Ramesh, whose performance in the Pathanamthitta constituency was impressive. But, Mr. Krishnadas, who had a better rapport with the RSS, was in more likely to get a Cabinet berth.
RSS preferenceThe RSS’s non-preference for Mr. Muraleedharan stems from the soured relationship its prantha karyavahak P. Gopalankutty and prantha pracharak P.R. Sasidharan had with the party faction led the former even before the Lok Sabha polls. At the same time, they might not seek his removal as his term as party president would expire only in January 2015.
RSS may pull out its nominee K.R. Umakanth from the post of organisational secretary of the BJP, sources said.
Final callA political representation for the State may not happen now. The party’s Central Parliamentary Board will take a final call on Tuesday, a functionary said.
The Cabinet would have representation from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The Karnataka BJP party unit had submitted four names, former Chief Ministers B.S. Yeddyurappa and D.V. Sadanandan Gowda, senior leader H.V. Ananthkumar and Scheduled Caste leader Ramesh Jigajinaji.
Party Tamil Nadu unit president Pon Radhakrishnan, who won from Kanyakumari, may also join the Cabinet.
