Thiruvananthapuram: Ending speculations over who will be the BJP candidate from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, party's former Kerala chief Kummanam Rajasekharan on Friday resigned as Mizoram governor and is all set to enter the poll fray from the state capital.
According to sources, President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted Kummanam's resignation and he is expected to arrive in Kerala soon. Kummanam's return to Kerala politics has been speculated for long and experts believe that he would spur the BJP's chances in the state, where the party is yet to win an LS seat. The saffron party's only major electoral success story so far in the state is O Rajagopal's victory in the last assembly elections from Nemom constituency. BJP is desperate to win a Lok Sabha seat from the CPM-ruled Kerala in 2019.
That is why the BJP and RSS were keen on bringing the former Kerala party chief to the state.
The clamour for Kummanam's return had grown stronger after a section of the Sangh Parivar leaders argued that the BJP would not have dragged its feet in the Sabarimala controversy had Kummanam been on top. The leader is known to have close ties with various Hindu organisations. The BJP and other right-wing outfits had been on a war path after the LDF government decided to implement the Supreme Court verdict which allowed women of all age groups to enter the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabariamala. The BJP entered into the protest mode over the issue only after the NSS and other outfits latched onto the controversy much earlier.
The BJP and RSS top brass are not happy with the way their local units have handled the contentious Sabarimala issue.
Kummanam was picked as Mizoram governor on May 25, three days ahead of the crucial Chengannur assembly byelection in Kerala. The decision took even Kummanam by surprise. He later accepted the post as per the wishes of the central leadership.
Kummanam worked with the Food Corporation of India from 1976 to 1987 before plunging into the communal politics of Kerala with an agitation at Nilakkal. As the Hindu Aikya Vedi convener, he led an agitation against a proposed airport at Aranmula in 1992. He succeeded V Muraleedharan as the BJP's Kerala president in December 2015.