Thiruvananthapuram: The Sabarimala temple entry issue was viewed as a “golden opportunity” by the BJP leadership in Kerala to make inroads in the state. The general election result that poured out on Thursday showed that the party failed to cash in on the agitation against women's entry to the popular shrine.
While the BJP stormed back to power at the centre, the party has not won a single seat in Kerala. In the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor held fort against BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan. The former Mizoram governor was seen as the BJP's best bet to open its account in Kerala.
Even in Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, the epicentre of the BJP's agitations around Sabarimala, its candidate finished a distant third. Actor-turned-Rajya Sabha MP Suresh Gopi's run for the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency proved a dud too.
The Supreme Court order to allow women of all ages to the Sabarimala shrine came as a trump card for the BJP, which was looking for ways to expand its vote share in Kerala's bipolar polity. The party fanned the conservative ire against the Supreme Court order and the state government decision to implement it. The party was hopeful of converting the backlash into votes, especially with support from caste associations such as the Nair Service Society.
Kummanam, a former state president of the BJP, was called back from his gubernatorial assignment in Mizoram to lead the party's attack in Thiruvananthapuram, where the party came close to winning in 2014. Tharoor had beat O Rajagopal by 15,470 votes after a nailbiting contest.
The RSS was actively campaigning for Kummanam this time. Some of the exit polls predicted BJP's maiden victory from Kerala but Tharoor had the last laugh. He actually secured a lead in the Thiruvananthapuram assembly segment where he had trailed behind Rajagopal last time. He also retained his lead in the Parassala, Kovalam and Neyyattinkara assembly segments. Kummanam managed to maintain Rajagopal's lead in the rest of the segments.
In Pathanamthitta, BJP candidate K Surendran finished second in only one of the assembly segments – Adoor. He finished third behind the Congress and the CPM candidates in all other segments despite support from P C George's new outfit. Suresh Gopi's star-studded campaign in Thrissur did not draw enough votes for the BJP.
The election result clearly shows that the people of Kerala rejected BJP's positing as the saviour of religious values. The party failed to win any seat in Keala though its vote share went up. The verdict was against the Modi government in Kerala at least.
The failure is likely to lead to rebellions in the BJP state unit. Some of the workers have already raised allegations of clandestine deals to trade votes. The current leadership may have a tough time handling the voices being raised against it. State president Sreedharan Pillai, who cas caught on camera saying that the Sabarimala issue was a “golden opportunity” for the party, could be forced to own up to the party's strategic failure.
