The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has got a new ally in Kerala with prominent adivasi leader C.K. Janu deciding to float a new party that would become a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
There are also indications that she would eventually become the NDA candidate in the Sulthan Bathery Assembly constituency in Wayanad district.
Ms. Janu, who had led several adivasi struggles for land rights over the last 15 years, is the single most important face of adivasi activism in Kerala. She has been leading the struggles under the banner of the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS) along with her compatriot of long M. Geethanandan.
Ms. Janu held talks with SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappalli Natesan, and his son and president of the newly formed Bharatiya Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) Thushar Vellappalli their home in Alappuzha on Wednesday morning. She later told reporters that she planned to float a new party. She refused to confirm reports that she would be the NDA candidate in Sulthan Bathery and would only say that any decision on the issue would be taken later.
The State BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan had the other day told reporters that discussions were on with Ms. Janu on the question of fielding her as the NDA nominee in Sulthan Bathery.
