The walkathon led by K Surendran, president of the Kerala BJP, which began in Kasaragod on January 27, is yet to garner any response from the State's electorate. The Pada Yatra (walkathon) serves as a prelude to the BJP's campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha election and revolves around the theme "Modi's Guarantee," a term coined by the Prime Minister during his visit to Thrissur on January 3.

The poor turnout at meetings addressed by Surendran highlights the fact that the Kerala BJP, without Prime Minister Narendra Modi, lacks significant support in the State. The public meeting took an unexpected turn on Monday evening when film actor Suresh Gopi, who addressed the Kannur stretch of the Yatra, announced that the Uniform Civil Code would be implemented immediately after the results of the 2024 polls are declared.

While the BJP in the State is a latecomer to the election campaign, facing a host of issues such as group rivalries (as per a party veteran, there are more groups in the Kerala BJP than leaders) and mutual mistrust among its leaders, Shobha Surendran (who is not related to Surendran) is kept away from the leadership hierarchy despite being active in party matters.

With 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the party's chances of winning even a single seat from this pool of 20 appear bleak due to the absence of effective leaders within the Kerala BJP. However, this has not deterred the State party in-charge, Prakash Javadekar, from claiming that the BJP will secure at least five seats in the state.

The BJP's best performance in the State to date was during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when it secured 13 per cent of the votes. However, in the 2021 Assembly election, the Hindutva party faced a setback at the hands of the LDF and UDF, managing to secure less than 12 per cent of the votes. Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ability to draw large crowds wherever he goes, it cannot be considered as support for the BJP in Kerala. The reality is that there are no State-level leaders in Kerala capable of translating Modi's popularity into votes.

Rajan Paul, a former executive engineer with the Kerala Government, expressed his frustration, saying, "We are seeing the same old mediocre faces in the party who are incapable of thinking outside the box." He dismissed the notion that Christians are likely to vote for the BJP, citing the Manipur incident as a stain on the goodwill enjoyed by the party. KT Paily, a retired Railway official and community leader, echoed this sentiment, saying, "The BJP has done nothing to dispel the apprehensions in our minds."

Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) general secretary and a figure with a cult following, disapproved of the BJP's actions, including Prana Pratishta. He said on Tuesday that the BJP is consistently against the Constitution of India and should be prosecuted for polarising society.