Veteran BJP leader PP Mukundan returned to the party fold in Kerala after being separated for more than a decade due to "differences of opinion".
Observers see this as a move inspired by the national leadership to take advantage of Mukundan's excellent rapport with community organisations such as the Nair Service Society in the run-up to the Assembly elections which are less than a month away.
Mukundan arrived this morning at the party state headquarters here but its top leaders were conspicuous by their absence despite many of them being available in the state capital, sources said.
Better late than never, was the remark of Mukundan as he settled down in the office. He was thankful to the party as well as Kummanam Rajasekharan, the state president, for facilitating the re-entry.
Asked about the apparently cold reception in office, he said one needed no formal or grandiose reception 'on getting back home'.
Yesterday, the state party president had said that Mukundan would come back to its fold as a 'common worker'. A decision on inducting him into the leadership would be taken after the Assembly elections.
It is widely believed that Mukundan would be reinstated in the top rungs of the party leadership either in Kerala or considered for a 'meaningful position' in the national leadership.