Thiruvananthapuram- Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his meeting with the newly elected office-bearers on Saturday, set a target that the Kerala BJP should ensure in the upcoming local body polls to be held in a few months from now. Shah has asked the new state committee, led by former Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the state president, to ensure that the BJP wins two corporations and 10 municipalities.Kerala has a total of 23,612 wards across its local self-government institutions — including Grama Panchayats, Block Panchayats, District Panchayats, Municipalities, and Corporations.In 2020, of the 941 Grama Panchayats, the LDF won 514, UDF 321, NDA 19, and others 23. Among 152 Block Panchayats, LDF bagged 108 and UDF 38.In the 14 District Panchayats, LDF won 11 and UDF 3. Of 87 Municipalities, LDF won 43, UDF 41, and NDA 2.In the six Corporations, the LDF controls 5, and the UDF 1Shah wants the state unit to see that they win the Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur corporations and has entrusted the task to Chandrasekhar and Suresh Gopi, the lone Lok Sabha member from Thrissur and Union Minister of State for Tourism.A political analyst on condition of anonymity told IANS that Shah’s wishes are a bit unrealistic, but then one needs to blame Shah for it, either.“It’s the dream of every party to rule and Shah, while addressing the well-attended meeting on Saturday here, pointed out that the BJP will rule Kerala after the 2026 Assembly polls. In the 2021 polls, the then state president K. Surendran’s narrative was BJP would win 35 seats in the 140-member Kerala Assembly and would form the government, but when votes were counted, they failed to retain the lone seat that they won in 2021,” said the analyst.Meanwhile, the first signs of discontentment following the revamp of the state committee have surfaced as two leaders expressed displeasure after they did not find a place in the decision-making body.Over the years, the party has been divided between the factions led by former Union Minister of State V. Muraleedharan and others led by P. K.Krishnadas and for the first time, the former appears to be sidelined.So it remains to be seen if Shah’s ambitions will fructify with the number of discontented leaders slowly increasing
Amit Shah sets targets for Kerala BJP in local body polls
