Party will decide if I need to continue or move out, says BJP's Kerala chief Surendran

Palakkad, Nov 25 (IANS) A day after speculations of his stepping down began to do the rounds, BJP's Kerala President K. Surendran on Monday made it clear that any such decision will only be made by the party's national leadership.

"It’s the central leadership which decides on my post... on if I need to move out or continue till my term gets over. It’s the state President who is responsible for both when the party wins or loses. If there is any lapse on my part, it will be audited and the party will decide if I should stay or continue," Surendran told the media.

After Palakkad Assembly by-election results came on Saturday with the Congress candidate winning a handsome victory, raising the margin from less than 4,000 to over 18,000 and the BJP candidate losing 10,000 votes, it was a free-for-all all in the BJP, sparking the speculations that Surendran might have to quit.

However on Monday before Surendran met the media, senior party leader Prakash Javadekar, who oversees the affairs of Kerala, took to social media, to scotch the speculations.

"The BJP has given a good fight in recently concluded by-elections in Kerala and got a massive mandate in Maharashtra. We will win Palakkad and many more Assembly seats in 2026. We are here to make a difference in Kerala politics. People are looking up to the BJP. More than 15,00,000 voters have voluntarily become members of BJP, by giving a missed call and full information. Our membership drive will continue vigorously. Anybody can become a member of the BJP by giving a missed call to 8800002024. LDF and UDF are spreading rumours. Nobody is resigning neither has the party sought anybody’s resignation. I think this will settle the matter," he said.

Surendran went on to add that people are only seeing one side as at the Chelakkara Assembly by-election, the party got more than 10,000 votes and also did well in the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll.

"But now, only Palakkad is being discussed. Why no one is discussing the loss of votes for the Congress candidate Ramya Haridas at Chelakkara? At Palakkad, we lost a few votes. We will look into the Palakkad defeat and the loss of votes will be looked into at every booth. We expected to do better at Palakkad," he said.

Meanwhile, the faction-ridden BJP in Palakkad saw exchanges between various leaders and the candidature of C. Krishnakumar was a topic that got traction in the feud that has broken out.

Surendran said they have a set protocol to announce candidates.

"A core committee headed by our former state President Kummanam Rajasekheran was deputed and he went and discussed with our people at Palakkad. Three names were shortlisted and then our state election committee discussed these 3 names. Of the three, two people who were named made it clear that they were not interested in contesting. We sent this to the national leadership with a note. The final decision was taken by the parliamentary board consisting of PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party President J.P. Nadda," he said.

The state BJP chief also noted till the last moment, Krishnakumar was also not keen.

"In the past at Malampuzha Assembly seat, he increased the party votes from 3,000 to as high as 50,000. Compared to Metroman E.Sreedharan, it’s true Krishnakumar did not get all the votes which Sreedharan got... it's understandable. V. Muraleedharan was staying put at Maharashtra as the party decided to utilise him there," Surendran said.

He further added that the state party unit will discuss and debate each and every aspect and the public utterances, if any made by any person, will also be looked into.

--IANS

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