The BJP’s three-day National Council meet which began on Friday is expected to give a big push to the party’s growth plan for Kerala though the conference, though it is being held in Kozhikode, may not be able to devote much time to the party’s State affairs in the context of the extremely serious developments in the national and international levels.
A detailed roadmap has already been prepared for the party’s onward march in Kerala, where it had almost trebled its vote-share in the past five years. BJP chief Amit Shah has given clear instructions to the State leadership on the course to be pursued for attaining the goal of preparing the NDA to win at least 11 seats out of the total 20 in the State in 2019 lok Sabha polls.
According to sources, the functional structure of the State party unit may undergo big changes in the days after the national council meeting. One of the first steps may be the division of city areas into urban and rural operational districts to ensure increased efficiency. The programme will begin with Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Thrissur and Kozhikode cities.
Drawing inspiration from the brilliant performance the party and the NDA it leads had put up in the May Assembly elections, the Kerala BJP’s first task will be to establish itself as a credible political alternative in the State’s politics which has so far been revolving around the two coalitions, CPI(M)-led lDF and Congress-led UDF.
“We are devising our plans with the aim of strengthening ourselves to make the party ready for facing a big election (in 2019),” said former State BJP president PK Krishnadas. BJP leaders hope that winning a good number of seats in the next lok Sabha election will not be impossible considering the growth the party has achieved of late.
One of the major steps the BJP may be taking in near future is to attract more parties into the NDA. There is a feeling in the party that it may still be having some organisational weakness because it could win only one seat in the Assembly election–though opening account was a historic achievement–despite the inspiring growth in the vote-share.
“The party itself has grown in size and strength in Kerala in the past few years. We had also been able to rope in certain influential parties like the BDJS to the NDA. But this growth had not reflected in the result even when we could claim second position in some constituencies. We have to find out our weak spots and rectify the problems,” said a senior BJP leader.
The party is said to be seriously considering roping in the Kerala Congress (M), a major regional party that enjoys the support of the influential Roman Catholic Church, into the NDA despite the fact that its supremo, former Minister KM Mani, is presently bearing a tarnished image due to the infamous bar bribery scandal in which he is allegedly involved.
The KC(M) had left the UDF in early August following sharp differences of opinion with front leader Congress over the bar bribery charge against Mani but it has not so far showed any interest in joining the lDF. Mani’s party will be sitting as a separate block in the Assembly in the session that begins on Monday.
The BJP thinks that it will be of great advantage to it in the central Kerala region if it can rope in the KC(M) to the NDA. “We will certainly try to bring into the NDA parties that are opposing both the UDF and lDF,” said State BJP general secretary MT Ramesh. The matter of expanding the alliance is likely to come up at the NDA leadership meet in Kozhikode on Monday.
The biggest task before the State BJP is to overcome the challenge posed by the CPI(M). Party leaders are of the feeling that a sustained and determined campaign offensive against the CPI(M) focusing on the attacks it is continuing against BJP-RSS activists, especially in Kannur, will be immensely useful in attaining this objective.
A senior party leader admitted that the conference might not be able to devote much time to Kerala affairs as other important issues had come up in the national level. “But I can tell you that there will be discussions at several levels in formal ways as well as on the sidelines. This event will provide us the inspiration for the future work,” he said.