The BJP leadership in the State came in for sharp criticism for the poor performance of party candidate N.Sreeprakash in the Malappuram Lok Sabha byelection on the first day of the two-day State leadership meet that began here on Tuesday.
Those who spoke at the core committee meeting in the morning made an indirect scathing attack on the State leadership, especially State president Kummanam Rajasekharan.
Some of them claimed that the State leadership was overconfident during the poll time. Though the State leadership expected over two lakh votes, the party candidate was able to gather only 65,675 votes.
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When some participants alleged that Mr. Sreeprakash failed to impress the voters, Mr. Rajasekharan defended his decision saying that the candidate was the most familiar BJP face among the electorate there.
Those who attended the meet observed that lack of coordination and overconfidence led to the humiliating defeat.
Veteran leader O. Rajagopal, MLA, attacked alliance partner and SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan for spoiling the chances of the BJP in the election by repeatedly making controversial statements.
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The controversy raked up by the candidate over consumption of beef also came in for sharp criticism.