Even as the national leadership of the BJP is struggling to find a suitable person to lead the Tamil Nadu unit of the party, a prominent party leader from the State has written to the Prime Minister as well as the national president telling them that only a thorough overhauling of the party would make it fit to stay afloat.
Kattumannarkoil V Kannan, a member of the National Council of the BJP, has said in his letter to the top leadership that, had the party contested the 2014 lok Sabha election alone, it would have won at least five seats namely Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Krishnagiri and the Nilgiris.
“The National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP in Tamil Nadu was a half-hearted and a hotchpotch arrangement. The PMK led by Dr Ramdoss is a communal party like the BSP of Mayawati. The DMDK led by Vijayakant has neither principles nor vision and leadership. It took more than three months to finalise the alliance. This made the people sore and vexed and they voted for the AIADMK which has strong leadership”, Kannan has written in the letter.
In the 2014 lok Sabha election, the BJP in spite of a strong Narendra Modi wave all over Tamil Nadu, could win just one of the seven seats it contested. There was a widespread resentment and heart burning over the selection of candidates. “Senior leaders, intellectuals and persons with popular support were all ignored and side-lined. Persons who have not contested Municipal Councilor elections were given top party posts”, charged Kannan.
It is widely believed in Kamalalayam, the Tamil Nadu BJP headquarters, that the national leadership is considering CP Radhakrishnan, H Raja and Tamil Isai Sounderrajan for the post of State party chief. Radhakrishnan, the former State unit chief put up a disappointing performance during his tenure. He also finished third in the 2014 lok Sabha election from Coimbatore despite the campaign by Modi.
Raja, a chartered accountant by profession, is known for his oratorical skills and was a member of Tamil Nadu legislative Assembly during 2001 to 2006. Most of the district leaders who interacted with S Muralidhar Rao and K Satish who were deputed by the central leadership to zero in a name for the State party chief, is believed to have mentioned Raja as the ideal choice under the present scenario.
The sad thing about Tamil Nadu is that none of the names who are being considered for the top post evoke any confidence among the cadre. “We need a person who can take into confidence all faction leaders and the cadre. The new party chief should have thorough knowledge about panchayat and municipality level leaders in the State. Right now most of the BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu are either part-time or visiting-card holding leaders," a district secretary told The Pioneer.
With the 2016 Assembly elections round the corner and some of the alliance partners like PMK making it known that it would lead a separate front of its own, the new State unit chief will have to work overload to keep the party alive and kicking in the State. Moreover, all other constituents in the NDA which include the MDMK and DMDK demand harsh measures against Sri lanka on the ethnic Tamil issue in the island nation. "The top priority for the BJP is to find out dependable and trustworthy constituents which do not embarrass the party leadership either on national or international issues," said Pravin Pillai, a Chennai based columnist and RSS activist.