Kerala local body polls: BDJS looks to shed poor-performer tag, bargains for more seats this time

Hoping to ride on a possible mobilisation of Ezhava votes in the State, the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), is engaged in hard bargaining with the BJP for more seats to contest in the upcoming civic polls.

However, its poor electoral performance in the past election has undercut its bargaining capacity.

BDJS leaders feel that the party shall be given its due credit for the impressive performance of many BJP candidates in the 2024 general election in the State, especially in constituencies such as Alappuzha, which has a sizable number of voters belonging to the Ezhava community.

Though BJP leader Shobha Surendran was relegated to the third position in Alappuzha, she bagged 2,99,648, marking a significant jump in the vote share of the party. A large number of community votes were polled in favour of Ms. Surendran, they argue.

The party, they claim, was successful in swaying away the community votes in favour of the BJP candidates in many constituencies, which otherwise would have been polled in favour of its opponents.

“The leadership meetings recently organised by the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, demanding more representation for community members in the civic bodies, have energised the community votes.

The party stands to benefit from the campaign as the party members and leaders mostly belong to the Ezhava community. Nearly 95% of the party leaders are also office-bearers of various SNDP unions,” says K. Padmakumar, State vice-President of the party and the National Democratic Alliance.

However, several party leaders nurse a grouse that the BJP had sidelined the organisation while sharing the seats among the front partners.

The BJP took away the winnable seats in many local bodies and left the rest for the BDJS. Though the party had contested 19 seats in the Kochi Corporation last time, it had to be contended with 10 seats with little electoral prospects this time.

The NDA’s sharing of seats remains inconclusive in many districts on account of the unjustifiable approach of the BJP, says a BDJS functionary.

Interestingly, the poor performance of the party in the 2020 polls has taken away its bargaining power in most of the districts. Though the party had fielded candidates in around 1,000 seats in various local bodies across the State last time, only a handful romped home.

The party has no elected representatives in most civic bodies and districts of the State, which is considered an indication of its poor electoral influence. However, the party leaders are hopeful that the situation will improve this time.

Commenting on the developments, party president Thushar Vellappally says a clear picture of the number of seats contested by the party will be known in a couple of days as negotiations are progressing.