BJP state president K Surendran said that the party seat tally will increase manifold in the ensuing local body polls and that the people-centric development and social work conducted by the Government of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi will transfer to votes and win for the BJP in the polls. He also said that the untouchability practised by the minority communities, especially the Muslims to the BJP has reduced much and that several Muslim women are contesting elections on a BJP ticket. The young leader said that there is a generational shift in the state leadership of the BJP and added that all sections of the society are represented in the state BJP team, which is also an added advantage. Surendran was speaking to Organiser representative Arun Lakshman at the BJP state headquarters, Mararji Bhawan in Thiruvananthapuram.
The three-phase local body elections are on and this is the first elections you are facing after being the state president of the party. How will the party fare in the elections?
BJP will be the gainer in the coming local body polls, and we are sure of increasing the tally of our seats manifold. In addition to this, we will wrest Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissurcorporation and will do extremely well in Kollam, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Kannur corporations. Party will rule several municipalities and many number of gram panchayats. We will win several seats in District panchayaths and this election will be a pointer to the popularity of the BJP in the state. I am just continuing the good work done by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
You said that the untouchability quotient of the minority communities, especially the Muslim community towards the BJP is waning. Please elaborate.
The good work carried out by the Prime minister Narendra Modi is reflected among the people, and I can proudly say that the Union government has never demarcated any person based on his caste, creed or religion and this has helped in the minority communities, especially the Muslim community looking up towards the BJP. We have several Muslim candidates contesting in BJP tickets across the state and many among them are women. These candidates have made inroads in their communities and this has led to an increase in trust for the Muslim community towards us. The Christian community also is supporting the BJP in large numbers, and this is owing to the people-friendly policies of the BJP and the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the centre.
As the state president of the BJP, how was your experience in tackling the issues related the Covid pandemic
Immediately after the Prime minister announced the lockdown, the state unit was ready with the setup to manage Covid and we did work till midnight 2 am to clear the issues pertaining to the people of the state who were living in different parts of the world. Using our party machinery, we were able to provide support to Keralites who were stranded in several Indian states and we were able to give them all necessary help within hours. There were instances of even super-rich people with tons of money not being able to get food after they got stuck in other states and our party machinery did provide them with the basic facilities and the state unit could coordinate this. I am really satisfied at the support our state unit was able to provide to the people during this Covid lockdown period. I can cite the example of a Muslim woman doctor who called me up after her daughter got struck at Ahmadabad, where she had gone to attend a seminar. I immediately connected with the College authorities and the girl was taken care of by the professor who took her to his residence and connected the daughter to her mother through a video call. The girl stayed with the Professors family for the next 45 days and incidentally the professor was the office-bearer of the BJP in Ahmedabad.
You are a young leader at the helm of affairs in the BJP and what is your feel among the cadres across the state during this election time.
We have a great team to control and direct the activities of the BJP in Kerala, and I can vouch that the cadres across the state are energised and are in full steam. This vigour and drive of the youths in our party give me a lot of satisfaction and an urge to do more. We are working twenty-four hours, and I am crisscrossing across the state on the road attending public programmes, family get-togethers, community meetings and press conferences across the state. I have found a large number of women coming out for electioneering and several women are contesting on BJP tickets even in general seats.
The state government under PinarayiVijayan is mired in corruption scandals and the former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister is already in jail. Your comments on this?
The CPM government under PinarayiVijayan is involved in all nefarious activities including gold smuggling, money laundering, scams in government housing scheme for the poor and I was the first one to say that all these activities are related directly to the Chief minister’s office. The all-powerful bureaucrat of the state, M Shivashankar who was the principal secretary to the Chief Minister and whose word was the final one in the state, is now languishing in jail over his relationship with gold smuggling gang and his involvement in all corruption scams are being probed. Another powerful person in the CMO, CM Raveendran who is the Additional private secretary to the Chief Minister has already been served notice by the Enforcement Directorate to appear before it for interrogation in money laundering and gold smuggling case. I can vouch that several skeletons will tumble from the cupboard and Chief minister PinarayiVijayan cannot hold guard for long facing this corruption charges. Party politburo member KodiyeriBalakrishnan’s son BineeshKodiyeri is also at the Central jail in Bangalore in money laundering, and drug-related case and Kodiyeri was forced to resign from the all-powerful post of CPM state secretary owing to this. CPM has lost its relevance and has egg on its face.
Kerala is going to assembly polls in 2021, and what are the chances of the BJP in the elections?
As I said earlier, BJP is a party to be looked upon as the party has the youth and women by their side and with the powerful backing of the people-oriented and people-centric schemes implemented by the Union government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP will do wonders in the local body elections and this will give us a major thrust in the next assembly elections. BJP, I am sure will be the party to watch in the next assembly elections and we will spring several surprises capturing the hitherto red territories of the state.
What about the Congress and the UDF, are you not training your guns at them?
Congress is a political party which is fast losing its relevance, and just like CPM, It has also lost its face with several leaders being served notice by Vigilance in corruption cases. The former industries minister of the state and sitting MLA of Muslim League, VK Ibrahim Kunju is arrested following the collapse of a bridge during his tenure. A Muslim League MLA is in jail in a gold scheme scam, and senior Congress leaders will be questioned by Vigilance in the days to come in corruption cases. This brings us to the point that the only political party which is significant is the BJP and we will live upto the expectations of the people of Kerala.
