Palakkad: Sandeep G Varier -- arguably the most popular spokesperson of the Kerala BJP -- asked for a role in the Congress's central decision-making body before joining the party, said a top leader privy to the negotiation. "He asked for a role in the AICC. We will give him a position and respect too," said All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary P V Mohan, in charge of Palakkad byelection.

Varier (41), the BJP's State Committee member, had won over many fence-sitters for the saffron party with his persuasive and pugilistic debates on TV. His popularity among BJP's youth wing Yuva Morcha is unparalleled. At 11 am, when he walked into the UDF's Election Office in Palakkad to join the Congress, he had 3.17 lakh followers. At 9 pm, after he joined UDF candidate Rahul Mamkootathil for a massive roadshow through the streets of Palakkad town, he lost only 9,000 followers and still commanded 3.08 lakh followers.

BJP's other popular spokesperson Sandeep Vaachaspathi has 1.95 lakh followers. Party state vice-president B Gopalakrishnan, another talking head, has only 75,000 followers.

Iyju Abraham, a techie and avid TV news watcher, summed it up succinctly: “When it comes to TV debates, Sandeep Varier is BJP’s Rahul Mamkootathil.” That's what the BJP is losing, that's what the Congress is gaining, he said.

Yet, BJP state president K Surendran dismissed his exit as a non-event. "It will not create ripples," he said unconvincingly, in a press conference soon after Congress's press conference welcoming Varier to the party fold.

BJP state treasurer and Palakkad Municipality vice-chairman E Krishnadas also dismissed Varier as just one vote. "Is he taking any followers or leaders with him?"
Sangh crusader N Sivarajan (69), who is also BJP's National Council member and Palakkad municipal councillor, said that Sandeep Varier will galvanise the party in Palakkad. "Palakkad is a saffron soil toiled by greats like Marar and O Rajagopal. One person's exit won't hurt the organisation," he said.

For the Congress, it is hoping Varier will hurt the BJP in the byelection, if not the organisation. Mohan described Varier's entry into the Congress as a surgical strike during the election because he is from the Sangh camp, particularly in Palakkad -- where the RSS is entrenched. "It is not like a BJP man joining the Congress in Wayanad or Kozhikode," he said. "RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat often comes to Palakkad. It organises its national meetings here. When Narendra Modi and Bhagwat have differences, they are ironed out by Palakkad RSS. Varier comes from such an entrenched RSS family which gave up their land for a Shakha. His uncle is in charge of the north-east for the organisation," said Mohan.

Congress spokesperson Jyothikumar Chamakkala, who often trades blows with Varier on TV, said he did not know how many grassroots BJP workers he would bring to the Congress. "He was among the few new gen leaders who wrote and spoke well. He came prepared and made logical arguments during debates.

"Even when I disagreed with him, I appreciated his oratory and persuasive skills. He will be an asset to the Congress," said Chamakkala.

Whether he will be an asset to the Congress in the byelection would depend on how Varier would play his cards in the coming days, said fellow news debater Sreejith Panickar. "There are three more days until the election. And in the press conference, he touched upon quite a few controversial and emotional issues. If we decide to reveal more on that, the BJP will be cornered," he said. If he spoke more as an insider about the CPM-BJP alliance and corruption within the BJP, he could present himself as a victim and sway BJP sympathisers, said Panickar. "However, attacking the RSS and Modi is unlikely to resonate with voters in Palakkad," he said.

In the press conference, Varier dropped enough hints on his plans in the next few days. "I am not delving into the details now because I don't want to hold up the senior leaders. But I will share the details later," he said and rhetorically listed out his "mistakes" when he was in the BJP.

"My mistake was that I took a stance against the adjustment politics by aligning with the CPM and the Chief Minister. My mistake was opposing the strategy of using Karuvannur and Kodakara to cancel each other out."

(CPM-controlled Karuvannur Cooperative Bank saw a massive deposit scam, while BJP leaders RSS worker and "hawala agent" Dharmarajan are linked to the Kodakara hawala money case but were listed only as witnesses in the charge sheet.)

"My mistake was that I did not figure in Dharmarajan's call list. If these mistakes are my shortcomings, I accept them and have now decided to take membership in the 'shop of love'," a euphemism used by Rahul Gandhi for the Congress party. "I am ashamed to have worked in a factory that spewed hate and hostility."

The BJP, however, accused Sandeep Varier of betraying the party’s martyrs. Hitting back, Varier urged party supporters to question the leadership on how 17 accused in the murder of RSS worker S K Sreenivasan (45) were granted bail. “They were charged under the stringent UAPA, yet they secured bail. Meanwhile, a district RSS leader was arrested for the murder of A Subair, killed a day earlier, remains in jail,” he said.

Sreenivasan (45) of Melamuri, Palakkad, was killed on April 16, 2022, allegedly by SDPI workers in apparent retaliation for the murder of their party worker, A Subair (44), a day earlier at Elapully in Palakkad. The case is being investigated by the NIA.

"When the accused fielded a senior counsel during the bail hearing, the BJP, which has top lawyers in parliament, did not field one special prosecutor," he said.

“But the BJP and its candidate C Krishnakumar have stooped so low that they are seeking votes using Sreenivasan's photo. When BJP accuses others of having a nexus, the nexus ends at your doorstep. The BJP candidate must answer this,” he said. In another grave charge, he said the BJP threw him before SDPI to be murdered after Sreenivasan's murder.

"After Sreenivasan’s murder, there were death threats against only two BJP leaders, and I was one of them. Back then, the BJP state office sent messages to all important leaders to go into hiding. I was in my house on Vishu Day. No such message was sent to me.

"Did they not inform me because I was dispensable? I survived because of my wife's luck, and my family's luck. Did they think it would be convenient if Sandeep was killed?

"I faced the death threat because I was the voice of the party. So don’t call me a betrayer," Sandeep said.

Panickar said such allegations could resonate with BJP sympathisers and benefit the UDF. “The BJP has already erred by engaging with the trolley bag issue raised by the LDF. Sandeep Varier could further strengthen the narrative that the LDF and BJP are colluding,” he said.