Overtaking the governing United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF), the BJP in Kerala has announced its first list of candidates.
The 84-year-old O Rajagopal, former Union Minister of State for Railways, is the BJP candidate in Thiruvananthapuram, which Shashi Tharoor won in 2009.
State party General Secretary AN Radhakrishnan is being fielded in Ernakulam, the current constituency of Union Minister of Food and Civil Supplies, KV Thomas. K Surenderan will be the party candidate in Kasaragod.
Radhakrishnan told Business Line the party’s State unit had shortlisted candidates for other seats and that the top leadership will announce the names soon.
Though the Lok Sabha election is expected to be held in the second half of April in Kerala, the UDF and the LDF are yet to announce their candidates. The Congress high command has reportedly asked the Kerala Pradesh Congress Party (KPCC) to speed up the selection process.
The UDF’s candidate-selection process has for decades been a long-drawn and complex affair accompanied by high drama. The Congress, the lead party in the UDF coalition, has to take care of the demands of various constituents of the coalition, apart from addressing the aggressive claims of its own factions.
The seats are traditionally split between the ‘A’ Group and the ‘I’ Group of the Congress. This time, however, factional voices have not been as loud and shrill as in the past, thanks to the stern warning issued by Sonia Gandhi during her recent visit to the State.
Also, the newly appointed KPCC President VM Sudheeran does not belong to any group or faction.
However, faction politics is likely to raise its head when the selection process gets intensive. Rahul Gandhi’s focus on youth and women is likely to cause some heartburn.
Compared to the UDF, candidate selection by the LDF is a tame affair. There is generally not much drama and fireworks, though in 2009 the process saw a lot of heat.
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