Kerala BJP leader Vishnupuram Chandrasekaran on Monday came down heavily against the state party leadership for its humiliating defeat in the Palakkad assembly bypoll.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, he said the Kerala BJP has become a horse without a bridle. He said the BJP leaders in the state cannot escape the responsibility of the party’s stunning defeat in Palakkad. There should be a complete overhaul of the party leadership in the state, he said.

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Chandrasekharan also demanded that the RSS should take control of the party in the state.

Meanwhile, BJP state president K Surendran has openly admitted that the BJP could not retain the basic votes in Palakkad. He said in the 2021 Assembly election, party candidate Metroman E Sreedharan was able to gather votes from all sections of people. It is a fact that Palakkad candidate Krishnakumar could not gather all those votes, he said.

Regarding controversy over Krishnakumar’s candidature in Palakkad, Surendran said the candidate is not decided by any individual.

“Party’s former state president Kummanam Rajasekharan was in charge of candidate selection in the state. The Palakkad candidate was approved by the Parliamentary Board comprising Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders. However, local leaders of BJP in Palakkad, including party national council member N Sivarajan and Palakkad Municipal chairman are saying that the local units of the party have opposed Krishnakumar’s candidature.

“However, after the party’s decision to field Krishnakumar, they have worked for his success,” they said.