Amid criticisms that it had failed to respond to the induction of Alphons Kannanthanam into the Union Ministry in an adequately positive manner, the Kerala BJP has decided to turn his first visit to his home State after becoming Minister into a grand event by organising glittering programmes for according warm welcome to him at various centres.
The reception programmes would start on Sunday at 9.30 am at the Kochi international airport at nearby Nedumbassery when Kannanthanam lands there on his first trip to the State after becoming Minister of State for Tourism and IT. State BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan himself will head a large group of State party leaders to receive the Minister at the airport.
This will be followed by a reception being organised by the BJP’s Ernakulam district committee at Muvattupuzha, some 40 kilometers away from Kochi, and a road show to be inaugurated by former State president PS Sreedharan Pillai. The road show will conclude near Kannanthanam’s house at Manimala in Kottayam district.
Another reception programme, organized by the BJP’s Kottayam district committee on the same day, will be inaugurated by Kummanam. Reception programmes are being arranged for Kannanthanam, the only representative of Kerala in the Narendra Modi Government, almost on all the seven days of his first visit to the home State.
Among these programmes are the one being organized by the district BJP committee in Kannur on September 12. Kummanam will inaugurate a civic reception to be accorded to the Minister in his native place on September 15 at Kanjirappally, Kottayam. The BJP would hold a reception meet at Thiruvananthapuram on September 16, the day he returns to Delhi.
The decision to organize so many reception programmes for Kannanthanam has come in the context of the allegation that the Kerala BJP leadership had not shown adequate enthusiasm over his induction into the Ministry. Of course, the leadership had rejected the allegation as part of a campaign against the party by adversaries.
“It is a fact that the State BJP headquarters (in Thiruvananthapuram) had remained literally deserted on the day Kannanthanam was sworn in Minister. I had not seen any of them watching the live telecast of the swearing-in ceremony on the television there. Also, the usual sharing of sweets was also not seen,” said a senior journalist known for his pro-BJP views.
The general allegation is that the State BJP leadership was not very enthusiastic about the selection of Kannanthanam, a former CPI(M)-backed Independent MlA who was not at all active in the State’s politics and who had joined the party just half-a-decade ago, as Minister while Kerala leaders with decades of history in the party were not considered.
“When senior leader O Rajagopal (presently the only BJP member in the Kerala Assembly), was inducted into the former AB Vajpayee Government, it was celebrated by the party across Kerala. But no such enthusiasm was seen on September 3 when Kannanthanam became Minister. It is up to the leaders themselves to cite a reason for this,” said a BJP functionary in Thrissur.
The CPI(M) was quick to cash in on this alleged lack of enthusiasm on the part of the State BJP leadership with Marxist Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan perhaps becoming the first leader from Kerala to congratulate Kannanthanam with a Facebook post in which he termed Kannanthanam a long-term friend and said, “I hope he will be Kerala’s voice in the Central Ministry.”
The Minister responded to the Chief Minister the other day equally warmly and praised him by saying, “It is Pinarayi Sir who brought me into politics... Kerala lays a lot of stress on tourism and IT. We can work together on several issues. We shared the meal and this marks the beginning of that partnership.”
Observers feel that the State BJP may not want the establishment of a rapport between the Marxist Chief Minister and the Union Minister through such interactions but leaders rejected the suggestion.
They said the State BJP leadership would not like the idea of the left giving Kannanthanam the image of an independent Minister rather than a Minister of the party.