New Delhi: Kerala has always been considered an untouched state for BJP or the right-wing parties, but now the JP Nadda-led party is working hard there too.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP bagged over 15 per cent of votes in the 7-8 seats in Kerala. In this state with 20 Lok Sabha constituencies, BJP is working hard on six seats this time, where it is seeing a possibility of victory. Not only this, even though the victory of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seems certain, the party has left no stone unturned in the election campaign in the Wayanad constituency from where the former Congress chief is contesting the polls.
BJP has promised to change the name of Sultan Bathery of Wayanad to Ganapathi Vattam so that it can polarise Hindu votes in entire Kerala including Wayanad. The BJP had made the conversion being done by ISIS in Kerala an issue by showing the movie 'The Kerala Story' on the national platform several months ago. Since then the politics of Kerala started heating up and the politics of polarisation started dominating in the southern state.
Through 'The Kerala Story', the BJP has also taken many churches along in this campaign. Encouraged by the coming together of the church lobby and the Christian group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is also vigorously engaged in the campaign this time to transfer the votes of Hindus in favour of the BJP.
BJP wants to gain seats in Kerala at any cost by increasing the vote share so that after the election results the party can stake claim on all the southern states.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Kerala, the party is focussing on the 7-8 seats where BJP polled 15 per cent votes. The party seems to have every possibility of winning six seats.
In the last two months, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held three rallies in Kerala. PM has also claimed to bring double-digit seats in the state. The party has also fielded stalwarts like Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan, actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi, and Union Minister Rajiv Chandrashekhar from Kerala. Union Minister Smriti Irani has also done a roadshow in Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi's constituency, and further programs for senior leaders have also been organised.
BJP spokesperson Tom Vaddkan told ETV Bharat that churches in Kerala are also with BJP, so according to the PM, the party will perform well in the southern state.
"The people of Kerala are fed up with (Kerala Chief Minister) Pinarayi Vijayan's corruption and this time they will vote in favour of the BJP," Vaddkan added.
"The issue of conversion is important. The (government is not able to stop religious conversion in the state. The public is worried. The public is now fed up with the policies of the Leftist government. It is neither liking the Congress nor the Left," said Vaddkan.
