Though the BJP has failed open account in Kerala in the 16th lok Sabha polls, the brilliant performance of its candidates in the Assembly segments in some of the key parliamentary constituencies has given inspiration to party leadership and workers to fight the 2016 State Assembly elections with new vigour and vitality.
The party leadership in the State has already entered the process of devising plans for the Assembly polls due in March-April, 2016 and the civic body elections to be held before that. One of the major strategies will be, according to sources, developing new relationships with the minority communities, especially the Christians, in the State.
The party is also reportedly planning to attract the majority communities and their organisations, which are presently on two minds about continuing their ties with other political parties. Some such organisations, like the SNDP Yogam of the Hindu lower caste Ezhavas and certain Dalit groups, have already shown their readiness to support the BJP.
The BJP, which had reached the brink of winning the Thiruvananthapuram lok Sabha seat with its candidate O Rajagopal maintaining steady lead over Congress’s Shashi Tharoor till the completion of 75 per cent of vote-counting, is in the lead in four Assembly segments and has claimed second position in two in the lS polls.
Rajagopal had got clear lead in Assembly segments Nemom, presently held by the CPI(M), Thiruvananthapuram, Vattiyoorkkavu and Kazhakkoottam, all represented in the current Assembly by the Congress, in Thiruvananthapuram lok Sabha constituency. He himself had claimed second position in the last Assembly election in Nemom.
Also, six candidates of the BJP had got more than 1,00,000 votes each in the lok Sabha elections suggesting that the party has got a space in Kerala politics. “(All these factors) prove that it need not be impossible for us to win a seat in the Assembly elections though it is in no way an easy task. But I am sure we can achieve that goal with the right kind of work,” said a senior leader.
The increase in BJP votes in Pathanamthitta constituency from 56,274 in 2009 to 1,38,954 in 2014 shows that involvement in social issues can win it a place in the heart of Keralites, he says. In Pathanamthitta, the BJP and its feeder outfits are leading a historic war against a private airport project which is set to destroy the region’s religious and cultural setting and environment.
According to independent observers, the BJP has already succeeded in making inroads into the Hindu vote bases of the main parties in the State, especially the CPI(M). If that had not happened, the BJP would not have got the 10.82-per cent vote-share in the lok Sabha elections, they say. The party’s vote-share in the 2009 election was just 6.31 per cent.
Observers feel (and many party leaders agree) that one of the priorities in the political agenda of the Kerala BJP will henceforth be to improve the warm relationship it already has with certain minority communities. It has already been able to win the confidence - if not electorally - of several Christian churches in Kerala thanks to the leadership of Narendra Modi.
“It will undoubtedly help the BJP in its efforts make the lotus bloom in Kerala in the next Assembly elections if it can bring to its side a reasonable portion of the minority votes. It will be also helpful for them in the elections to the local administration bodies which are due in September next year,” said a Kozhikode-based psephologist.