The elevation of A.P. Abdullakutty as a national vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a sign that the party’s Central leadership is keeping its doors open for disgruntled leaders from other parties in the State.
A senior party functionary said the elevation of Mr. Abdullakutty could result in more leaders joining the BJP from both the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front coalitions.
After bringing Mr. Abdullakutty to national limelight, the Central leadership has already stepped up its political manoeuvring to woo leaders from other parties. Besides, the BJP desperately wants to shed its uni-polar image of a Hindu party ahead of the Assembly polls, he said.
Wooing minorities
Many of his detractors dub Mr. Abdullakutty a political opportunist. But he could leverage his political skills, garnered from his stints as an MP and an MLA, in a bipolar polity like in Kerala. None can dismiss his journey switching parties from the CPI(M) to the Congress following expulsion, and finally joining the BJP last year after he was ousted from the Congress. He would help the BJP target the minority vote bank, especially the Muslim community.
However, the rejig at the national organisational level has perturbed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leadership which had been hoping that former State presidents Kummanam Rajasekharan and P.K. Krishnadas would be part of the Central team.
Intra-party feuds
The elevation of Mr. Abdullakutty bypassing senior leaders also appear to be a warning to the State leadership which has not risen to the occasion notwithstanding the organic growth of the party in recent years.
On multiple occasions, the BJP State unit has been in the news for letting its intra-party feuds out in the open even when elections were approaching.
