BJP President Amit Shah with party leaders at the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum
BJP chief Amit Shah's mission to build party muscle took him today to Kerala, where the party has never won a seat in state or national elections. The state has traditionally seen pitched political battles between the Congress and the Left and their local partners.
Senior party leaders in Thiruvananthapuram said Mr Shah's first target is next year's local body elections, billed as a semi-final ahead of the 2016 state elections, where the party hopes to win a few seats in the 140-member Kerala assembly.
Mr Shah's first effort to gain a foothold in the state involves a mass membership campaign. The drive, he announced, will start from November 1.
Indicating that the CPM is thwarting the party's growth in the state, Mr Shah said, "Nearly 250 BJP workers have been murdered by CPM workers in Kerala's northern region. We will take this fight to court and people." The party claimed has claimed an RSS worker was murdered today by CPM workers in Kannur district.
Ahead of the elections, the BJP also tried to go one-up on the UDF government's zero-alcohol policy. While the government has so far been targeting bars and pubs which are not in five-star hotels, Mr Shah said the BJP will demand the closure of beverage corporations and ensure that liquor is not sold there before Onam. Campaigns will be held by its mandals, youth wings and women's wings.
In the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, the BJP fielded candidates in most seats, but failed to make an impact. But in capital Trivandrum, the BJP candidate O. Rajagopal gave a tough fight to former union minister Shashi Tharoor of the Congress and came in a close number 2 after leading most rounds.
The BJP is attempting to position itself as an alternative to the CPM and the Congress -- particularly for the disgruntled elements in the two parties. Many such politicians have been joining its ranks, the party has claimed.
Before that, the party chief, however, has to address the pique of state leaders who have not been included in the key national team. Kerala had one party leader, PK Krishna Das, in the post of secretary, but he does not figure on Mr Shah's new team of office-bearers.