In Kerala, exodus from Congress is to CPM ,not BJP

[File Photo]


While disgruntled Congress leaders are making a beeline to get into the BJP in most part of the country,the scene is different in Kerala.In Kerala, leaders who ditch Congress flock to CPI-M, not to BJP The CPI-M is learned to have re-oriented its strategies to weaken Congress in Kerala and thus establish a perpetual left rule in the state. The CPI-M has decided to relax complex procedures for obtaining party membership for accommodating leaders from the Congress. It is learnt that the CPI-M has relaxed its procedures as it wants disgruntled Congress leaders not to join the BJP There were initial reports that KPCC organizing secretary, K P Anil Kumar, who quit Congress on Tuesday,was in contact with NCP state president P C Chacko, to join in the NCP. However, talks initiated CPI-M leaders in Kozhikode ensured that Anilkumar would get an accommodation in the CPM. Similarly former state Congress secretary P S Prasanth was expelled from the party, CPI-M district leadership in Thiruvananthapuram acted swiftly and ensured that Prasanth joined the CPI- M. Close on the heels of KP Anilkumar, Congress former state general secretary G Rathikumar quit the party and joined the CPI-M on Wednesday. Responding to the exodus from Congress, chief minister PPinarayi Vijayan said disgruntled Congress leaders joining CPM is a healthy trend. . In the last seven years, the country witnessed several high-profile defections from Congress to BJP. In Kerala, the BJP is not in a position to attract the disgruntled Congress leaders into the party fold. The BJP is in a weak position in Kerala after its dismal performance in the Assembly polls. The state unit of the BJP is facing its worst crisis with its state president’s alleged involvement in the Kodakara money heist case, Manjeshwaram election bribery case and CK Janu bribery case. Never before in the history of the BJP, has a state unit of the party gone through a humiliation of losing its public image. A section in the BJP says the present leadership of the party is responsible for the dismal performance of the party in the Assembly polls and loss of image.Had the party maintained a good image and registered a reasonable performance in the polls, the party could have attracted the disgruntled Congress leaders into its fold and make the party a formidable force in the state Groups opposed to the present party state president K Surendran, who belongs to the faction led by union minister of state for external affairs V. Muraleedharan, have demanded his removal from the post. It has been pointed out that the BJP performed reasonably well while Kummanam Rajashekaran was the state president.The present leadership of the party has failed to take up issues before the people and shape public opinion in favour of the party.It is being said the party in the state failed to reach out to the people with the benevolent schemes of the Modi government