BJP Kerala chief Surendran evasive on reports about resignation after Palakkad bypoll debacle

BJP Kerala State president K. Surendran evades questions about resignation amid election defeat, faces internal party tensions.

BJP Kerala State president K. Surendran was at his evasive best on Monday (November 25, 2024) amid reports that he had expressed his wish to quit the post in the wake of the erosion of votes suffered by C. Krishnakumar, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate in the recently held byelection to the Palakkad Assembly constituency.

Mr. Krishnakumar lost to United Democratic Front’s Rahul Mamkootathil by 18,840 votes in the fiercely fought triangular contest in which the Left Democratic Front-supported Independent candidate, P. Sarin, came third. The NDA candidate managed to get only 39,549 votes in comparison with ‘Metroman’ E. Sreedharan, the alliance’s nominee in the 2021 polls, who had bagged 50,220 votes. Mr. Krishnakumar is reported to have lost a considerable number of votes in the Palakkad Municipality, which is a BJP stronghold and ruled by the party.

Also read | Parties in Kerala begin post-bypoll internal stocktaking

Mr. Surendran, however, chose not to respond to questions about his offer to quit the post, when he addressed the media here. “As the State president of the party, I have the moral responsibility for this defeat, though decisions are taken jointly by the leadership. All my actions will be audited. Whether I need to resign from the post or not has to be decided by the central leadership. I will abide by their directions,” he said. The BJP leader also said that party candidates had put up a good show in bypolls in the State only on a few occasions in the recent past.

He refuted allegations that there were lapses in the candidate selection. Mr. Surendran said that the candidate was chosen by the party’s parliamentary board consisting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J.P. Nadda. But, he also claimed that two among the three candidates, including Mr. Krishnakumar, suggested by the State leadership, were unwilling to contest the election.

Mr. Surendran, however, admitted that Mr. Krishnakumar was unable to gain neutral votes like Mr. Sreedharan. He also claimed that the party had lost only 4,000 votes, 2,000 each in the Palakkad Municipality, and Pirayiri and Mathur grama panchayats. The BJP would go into a serious soul searching and a booth-level analysis would be taken up, Mr. Surendran said.

Meanwhile, BJP senior leader and Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar claimed on social media platform X that the party had given a good fight in recently concluded by elections in Kerala. “We will win Palakkad and many more assembly seats in 2026. We are here to make a difference in Kerala politics... LDF and UDF are spreading rumours. Nobody is resigning neither party has sought anybody’s resignation. I think this will settle the matter.” He also said that he was amazed at the logic of some sections are asking whether the BJP office bearers will resign. “With this logic, Pinarayi Vijayan has to resign after LDF defeat in elections With the same logic, Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge has to resign after losing elections in Maharashtra and Haryana. This is absurd.”