Kochi: Factionalism has been blamed as a factor leading to BJP's disappointing performance in the just-concluded civic polls in Kerala even as it improved its tally over the 2015 elections. The central leadership is likely to look into the BJP state unit's failure to surprise the two major fronts -- the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) -- despite getting ample support from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and a section of the people.

The rival factions in the party have started targeting state president K Surendran for the poor show. The party could fetch only around 1,600 seats across the state which is gain of a few hundred seats over the 2015 civic polls.

PK Krishnadas and Shobha Surendran factions have reportedly sent letters to the BJP central leadership demanding the removal of Surendran. In the letter, they alleged that despite having favourable conditions in the local body polls, the party could not register the desired victory due to Surendran's inept handling of issues and authoritarian attitude. The party went to polls without convening the core committee and preparing the election manifesto. Surendran should step down taking moral responsibility for the defeat of the party, they pointed out in the letter.

The BJP state president has been accused by his adversaries of not taking all sections of the party together. On the other hand, the Surendran faction will target Shobha for not taking part in the election campaign.

While the state president focused on the gold smuggling case and attacking the LDF leaders, the ruling front reaped the benefits of the central government schemes by changing their names and presenting them before the people as their achievement.

The rival factions have urged the central leadership to remove Surendran from the post and appoint a president who will be able to carry all sections together.

Way off the target

The state leadership had assured the central leaders that the party would win at least 8,000 seats at various levels and gain control of 194 village panchayats, 24 municipalities besides Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram corporations. However, the party could not reach anywhere near the target. The party failed to run an effective campaign highlighting the development schemes of the central government which could have been easily converted into votes.

The victory in Palakkad and Pandalam municipalities and the doubling of the number of panchayats in its kitty form 12 in 2015 came as a major relief for the party-led National Democratic Alliance or NDA. The BJP even managed to become the single largest party and main opposition in some municipalities.

The state and central leadership of the BJP is not satisfied with the contribution made by alliance partner Bharat Dharma Jana Sena or BDJS in the local body polls.

If the current situation continues in the party organisation, the BJP will suffer a major setback in the forthcoming Assembly elections.