Kochi: Sandeep Varier, known for his sharp-tongued attack on political rivals on prime-time TV debates, could be the BJP’s candidate in the yet-to-be-announced Palakkad assembly bypoll. Varier’s name has been proposed as a front-runner for the candidature at a core committee meeting of the BJP in Kochi on Tuesday, party sources said.
Bypolls are due in Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly constituencies after Shafi Parambil and K Radhakrishnan, who had represented the seats in the Kerala assembly, got elected to the Lok Sabha in June.
T N Sarasu, a former college principal who increased the party’s vote share significantly in the Alathur Lok Sabha constituency, is likely to be fielded from Chelakkara. Chelakkara is part of the Alathur Lok Sabha segment.
According to sources, the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency has become vacant after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi relinquished it for Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi. The BJP is considering its state president K Surendran, or the firebrand leader, Sobha Surendran for the seat.
Why Varier?
Though Palakkad strongman C Krishnakumar’s name also cropped up during the discussions at the core committee, it is learnt that a handful of senior leaders from the state preferred Sandeep, a BJP state committee member, who is also from Palakkad. The BJP leaders proposed Sandeep’s name going by speculations that the Congress is likely to field Youth Congress state president Rahul Mamkoottathil, known for his oratory and debating skills, in Palakkad. Rahul is known as Shafi Parambil's close confidant.
“The general view among the leadership is that someone like Sandeep could be an equal opponent for Rahul. Also, Krishnakumar did not stake any claim for the seat,” a BJP state leader told Onmanorama.
Sarasu a strong contender
In Sarasu, the saffron party sees a strong contender after her impressive show in the Lok Sabha polls. She increased the BJP-led NDA's vote share to 19 per cent from 8.81 per cent, a rise of 10.19 percentage points, in the Left bastion of Alathur.
“A candidate like Sarasu might have gone unnoticed in a General Election, but when it comes to a bypoll she can attract a lot of pubic attention within and outside the constituency,” the BJP leader said. Chelakkara, like Alathur, is a constituency reserved for the Scheduled Caste category. The Congress will likely field Ramya Haridas, who lost to CPM’s Radhakrishnan in the Lok Sabha polls in Alathur.
Pandalam Prathapan and Renu Suresh were also mentioned during the BJP meeting as potential candidates in Chelakkara. However, Sarasu appears to be in a better position for the race than the other two who do not belong to the constituency. Sarasu polled 28974 votes in Chelakkara in the Lok Sabha election, while K Radhakrishnan and Ramya Haridas recorded 60368 and 55195 votes, respectively.
Wayanad worry
Though there was a call from a section of core committee members to Surendran to try his luck once again from Wayanad, he is learnt to have expressed unwillingness to contest citing organisational and byelection responsibilities.
Surendran, known as a vote catcher in the saffron camp, increased NDA's vote share by 5.79 percentage points, fighting against Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad. The leadership believes that Sobha, also known for mustering votes in elections she had contested, could be the party’s best bet in Wayanad if not Surendran.
Sobha put up a spirited fight in the Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat, which saw the BJP’s vote share increase to 28.3 per cent in 2024 from 17.22 per cent in 2019.
The BJP core committee meeting also initiated discussions for the local body elections due next year in Kerala. Prakash Javadekar, the party’s state in-charge, and national spokesperson Anil Antony, who represented the national leadership, attended the meeting.
