With the elections to the Lok Sabha round the corner, pressure is mounting on Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) chairman Thushar Vellappally, who is also vice president of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, to contest from a `stable’ constituency.
The State unit of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is of the view that the candidature of Mr. Thushar would add strength to the coalition as it would energise the rank and file of the SNDP Yogam in favour of all NDA candidates in the fray.
Many Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in the State have taken Mr. Thushar as a trump card that could help the NDA consolidate a major chunk of Hindu votes, notwithstanding the critical comments made by his father and SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan about the BJP State unit.
A recent meeting of NDA State leaders held in Kochi discussed sharing of seats among the coalition partners. The BDJS has sought eight Lok Sabha seats and they are Attingal, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Thrissur, Chalakudy, Wayanad or Kozhikode, and the Alathur constituency reserved for the Scheduled Castes.
A top BDJS leader told The Hindu that the party would field prominent personalities for the elections. Former Director General of Police T.P. Senkumar and Mr. Thushar were on the list of BDJS probables, he said.
There were also reports that Mr. Thushar had been maintaining a very good relationship with the Nair Service Society (NSS), despite certain `irritants’ thrown at the society by his octogenarian father.
The BDJS has already started activating panchayat ward-level preparations to work in unison with the BJP-led NDA in the run-up to the elections, sources said.
