Kerala’s BDJS ties up with NDA

With the formal announcement of its electoral tie-up with the Bharatiya Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) in the election-bound Kerala, the BJP on Thursday finally managed to remove the “politically untouchable” tag in this southern state, which has so far seen Congress or Left-led coalition governments. The political wing of a powerful caste-based organisation SNDP, BDJS is likely to contest on around 50-60 Assembly constituencies out of the total 140, even though it has demanded 70 seats from the BJP.

Interestingly, senior BJP leaders from Kerala were missing from the event where the party’s central leadership announced its alliance with the BDJS. A section within the BJP’s state unit is apparently miffed over the way the SNDP is “bargaining” with the saffron party.

The SNDP is a caste-based organisation of numerically strong and influential Ezhava community, which the BJP had been wooing desperately.

The BJP never had any representative in the state Assembly or a member in the Lok Sabha from the state.

The BJP, it is learnt, is also going to help the fledgling party with “logistics” for the coming Assembly elections in which the saffron party is hopeful that it will not only improve its vote share significantly but will also make a debut in the Assembly.

Speculation is also rife that BDJS chief and SNDP general secretary Vellapally Natesan’s son Tushar Natesan, could be accommodated in the Rajya Sabha as he has been maintaining that he will not contest the coming elections. The issue apparently came up for discussion during Mr Vellapally Natesan’s late night meeting with BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday.

Making the electoral alliance announcement at the BJP headquarters, Union minister and party’s election in-charge of the state, J.P. Nadda said, “Aspiration with nationalists forces (in Kerala) is immense. We have always tried that nationalist forces come together. We will see to it that our front comes victorious.”

Mr Tushar Vellapally maintained his party was joining the NDA fold unconditionally.

“Power has changed between UDF and LDF for four decades in Kerala but it has seen no development. It has seen unparalleled violence and no development. Kerala has reached a standstill. People want an alternative,” Mr Nadda said.

The BJP is also in touch with other smaller parties and organisations including the powerful Nair Service Society (NSS.)