Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president K. Surendran has alleged that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) are joining hands to prevent the BJP from coming to power in panchayats across the State.
Addressing the media here on Sunday, he accused Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala of mediating a nexus between the two fronts to beat his party in the local body polls.
Mr. Chennithala’s statement that the BJP would be decimated like the Yadava clan [in the Mahabharata] was a signal to his party workers to vote for the LDF in the elections. However, it was the UDF which got destroyed in the process, Mr. Surendran said. The elections saw consolidation of minority votes, he said.
“Now, in Mr. Chennithala’s home district of Alappuzha, grama panchayats such as Kodamthuruth, Pandanad, Thiruvanvandoor and Chennithala, the BJP is the single-largest party. The UDF is going to stake claim to power in all these places after getting into a tie-up with the LDF,” the BJP leader alleged.
He said a similar understanding had been arrived at Karadkka, Badiyadka, Kumbadaje, Vorkady, Meenja, Kumbala, and Paivalike grama panchayats and Manjeswaram block panchayat in Kasaragod district as well. There were alliances in Pathanamthitta and Kottayam districts too, Mr. Surendran pointed out.
The BJP leader said the people would come to know how their verdict in the elections in favour of his party was being sabotaged by the LDF and the UDF. “In that case, we may also have to clear certain things. Many big shots will not emerge victorious in the next Assembly polls. We will hold house-to-house meeting to expose both the fronts,” he said.
Mr. Surendran claimed that the BJP had made big gains in the elections. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had got over 35 lakh votes in the three-tier local bodies. The party had representatives in almost all municipalities, except some in Malappuram district, he added.
