With strong moves to improve on its 2004 performance of 18 lakh votes and 13 per cent vote share, the BJP is targeting to hit the bulls? eye of 25 lakh votes and win the Lok Sabha seats of Thiruvananthapuram (Capital city) and Kasargod, in extreme north bordering Karnataka.
Although the RSS has a very strong presence in Kerala with more than 4,000 shakhas and the BJP has been consistently polling around 10 lakh votes in each assembly and parliamentary poll, it has not been able to win seats because of the extreme polorisation of votes between Congress led UDF and CPM led LDF.
But with O Rajagopal becoming Minister in the Vajpayee regime of 1999-2004 and the yeoman service he did to the state of Kerala, brushing aside political, religious and other considerations, the situation dramatically changed. His frequent interactions with Bishops etc. wiped away their suspicions on the BJP. BJP is becoming popular in church circles with Advaniji being chief guest in a recent meet. Although Rajagopal lost in Thiruvananthapuram in 2004, he garnered 2.28 lakh votes, winning two assembly segments with sizable Christian population. PC Thomas, another Minister in the Vajpayee cabinet and ally of BJP, won Muvattupuzha Lok Sabha seat, defeating the legendary Kerala Congress leader KM Mani'sson. With 18 seats going to CPM led LDF and Congress, the performance of BJP was superb.
There was heavy pressure on O Rajagopal to contest from Thiruvananthapuram, but he handed over the baton to youthful state president PK Krishnadas, who has come from the flying flames of Kannur, the battle ground of CPM-RSS clashes. With Congress deciding on Sashi Tharoor'scandidature and CPM bent on defeating CPI'scandidate Ramachandran Nair, the chances of Krishnadas'svictory are increasing day by day. The presence of the BSP candidate and former MP, minister Neelalohitadasan Nadar is to the advantage of the BJP, since he will split the Christian Nadar vote which will otherwise go to Congress and CPM. Also CPM'struck with Madhani has created a strong ?Hindu Backlash? in the constituency. Even Nairs, who had earlier voted for Left and Congress, are veering towards the BJP, since both have equal role in pampering jehadi terrorism and Madhani. Moreover the opposition expressed by SNDP General Secretary Vellapalli Natesan to CPM truck with Madhani, will prompt Hindu Ezhavas to vote BJP.
PK Krishnadas with his youthful look and pleasant smile and the dedicated systematic work of RSS/BJP cadres is winning the hearts of the capitalites.
In Kasargod bordering Karnataka, BJP has been consistently coming second in two assembly constituencies Kasargod and Manjeswar since 1987. It lost both these seats by hardly 1000 votes. On this Lok Sabha seat where Tulu Kannadigas form a major chunk, BJP has fielded youthful Yuva Morcha president K Surendran. He has taken up many major corruption issues against CPM and launched massive agitations. He is pitted against sitting MP P Karunakaran and Shahida Kamal of Congress. Although the Congress has allotted the seat to Mahila Congress leader Shanimol Usman, who refused to contest and it was given to Shahid Kamal, an outsider. P Karunakaran (legendary AKG'sson-in-law) has done nothing for this backward constituency. Also CPM'struck with Madhani is creating a ?Hindu? backlash? in this Hindu majority constituency.
After consolidating in Kasargod and Manjeswar, Surendran is bulldozing into Kanhangad, Uduma segments etc. Thousands wait hours to hear his impressive speeches. He is poised to win pushing the Congress to third place.
Also in several other Constituencies PP Karunakaran (Kannur), C Vasudevan (Wynad), V Muraleedharan (Kozhikode), K Janachandran (Ponnani), CK Padmanabhan (Palakkad), Christian Jacobite Church leader and BJP Minorities Morcha president KV Sabu (Chalakudy), Rema Reghunadan (Thrissur), Radhakrishna Menon (Pathanamthitta), AN Radhakrishnan (Kochi) and PM Velayudhan (Mavelikkara reserved) have made impressive inroads in traditional CPM and Congress forts baffling everybody. Each of them may poll one to 1.5 lakh votes.
This poll will give a decisive victory to BJP in Kerala and make it a third alternative, crumbling the UDF, LDF bipolarity. They oppose each other in Kerala and join hands in Delhi making the voters fools. Not hence forth, the voters will pull out the deceptive masks from your vulgar faces!
