Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has said that BJP president Amit Shah’s brand of divisive politics will not sell in Kerala and his present exercises in the State is intended to help the cadres here to regain their confidence after the party’s dismal show in the Malappuram Lok Sabha election.
In a statement here on Sunday, Mr. Chennithala said the BJP’s attempt to poll two-lakh votes in the Malappuram by-election failed to meet the target. The party could not even poll the numbers it got in the Assembly election.
The Malappuram by-election indicated how the people of Kerala were thinking. The context of Mr. Shah’s new tactics to woo minority communities was obvious. The party’s love for the minority communities in Kerala was in stark contrast to its attitude towards them in North India, he said.
The BJP cannot reduce its communal sting by its president meeting heads of various denominations. The people were politically astute to recognise a wolf masquerading as a lamb, he said.
Those who had joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Kerala were ruing their decisions. The NDA had not become a reality in Kerala. The people of Kerala, who were steeped in secular and democratic traditions, would see through the BJP’s tactics. The party’s dream of a big break through in Kerala would dissipate at the end of the next Lok Sabha election, he said.
