New Delhi: The BJP hopes to break the three-decades-old cycle of power rotating between the UDF and the LDF in Kerala but faces an uphill task as it does not have either a strong organisation or a popular leader.
To make up for these two shortcomings, the BJP is banking heavily on the clean image that technocrat E Sreedharan, known as Metro Man for supervising prestigious projects in the national capital, enjoys among the middle class and young voters.
Soon after he had joined the BJP, the state leaders had projected Sreedharan (88) as the saffron party’s chief ministerial nominee but the central leadership quickly retracted to keep the message intended but unofficial.
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Batting for the technocrat, contesting from Palakkad seat, PM Modi accused both the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front of indulging in corruption and match-fixing to stay in power.
The young voters, alleged Modi, were disappointed with the UDF and the LDF as he promised to bring change in Kerala.
The BJP, with just one assembly seat in 2016, had launched a campaign in 2018 against the LDF government, which had supported the Supreme Court order allowing entry to women between 10-50 years in the Sabarimala temple.
The plan did not benefit the BJP in the 2019 national elections but helped the saffron party expand its presence across several municipalities like Palakkad and Pandalam in Pathanamthitta district, the seat of Sabarimala temple.
There were some gains in capital Thiruvananthapuram also which dented the UDF vote bank more than the LDF support base.
But to expand the gains to a wider support base across the state is a tall order and needs to be backed up by a strong party organization.
Read:| Kerala Assembly polls: BJP to back independent candidate in Thalassery
Further, the saffron party lacks a popular leader who has been in public life for a long and enjoys a mass appeal to counter the influence of LDF chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and UDF leaders like former chief minister Oommen Chandy and Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala.
Keeping this in mind, Modi addressed the Pallakkad rally in English to connect with the voters in the southern state though the PM usually makes poll speeches in Hindi.
Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid while campaigning in Kerala recently urged the voters not to fall for the saffron party’s propaganda and instead stay with the traditional UDF vs LDF cycle which had ensured economic growth and social harmony in the coastal state and had worked to the advantage of the people.
Read:| Kerala Assembly polls: BJP to back independent candidate in Thalassery
