V Muraleedharan will continue as president of the BJP’s Kerala unit for a second consecutive term as per a decision approved by national party president Rajnath Singh amidst rumours about objections from the part of a section of State party leaders.
Rejecting reports on dissent among the State party leadership over his continuance in the president’s position, Muraleedharan said that most of the controversies were exaggerated and that the Kerala BJP was functioning in total unity. Muraleedharan was elected BJP’s State president for the first time in January, 2010.
In a meeting of the core committee of the State BJP, national secretary in charge of Kerala Muraleedhara Rao had informed the leaders about the Central leadership’s decision to let Muraleedharan continue as the Kerala chief. The decision is interpreted as a strong message from the central leadership to the State unit that divisionism in the party could not be tolerated.
There were reports that a major section of the State leadership had been putting pressure on the national leadership against the move to reappoint Muraleedharan as president.
They had allegedly complained that the State BJP had weakened terribly under Muraleedharan’s leadership and that he had even antagonised the State RSS.
Another reported complaint against Muraleedharan was that major Hindu community outfits such as the SNDP Yogam of the lower caste Hindu Ezhavas and the NSS of the upper caste
Hindu Nairs had distanced themselves away from the BJP during his tenure as State chief. These two communities together constitute about 36 percent of the total Kerala electorate.
Nine of the 14 district presidents of the party had reportedly written a letter to the leadership asking it to withdraw from the move to allow Muraleedharan to continue for a second term as president.
However, observers said that Muraleedharan’s close connections with the national leadership of the RSS had helped him to overcome the opposition.
Stating that there was no substance in reports about such a letter, a confident Muraleedharan said, “Those who are said to have sent the letter have not confirmed this. No district president has admitted signing such a letter. The central leadership has not said it has received any such letter.”
He said his first priority was to strengthen the State party before the next lok Sabha election.He would be leaving for Delhi in a couple of days to convince the central leadership of the need to take a strong stand against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, facing allegation of involvement in the Suryanelli rape scandal, in Parliament, he said.
Born at Thalassery, Kannur on December 12, 1958, Muraleedharan had graduated in English literature. He had functioned as Thalassery taluk president, Kannur district secretary and State joint secretary of the ABVP. He was the State organising secretary of the outfit from 1983 to 1994.
He was also ABVP’s all-India secretary from 1987 to 1990. From 1994 to 1996, he made Mumbai his centre for his work as the all-India general secretary of the organization. He was appointed vice-chairman of Nehru Yuvak Kendra in 1999 by the then Vajpayee government.
From 2000 to 2004, he was the director general of Nehru Yuvak Kendra and convener of youth employment task force under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission. He was appointed all-India convener of the training cell of the BJP in 2004.
