BJP top leadership favours Surendran over P S Sreedharan Pillai

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In what could be construed as a major setback to BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai, the party central leadership is learned to have picked K Surendran as its candidate in Pathanamthitta for the Lok Sabha election.

BJP state general secretary Sobha Surendran, who had been lobbying for Palakkad seat, has been given the Attingal constituency. Former Congress veteran Tom Vadakkan will contest from Kollam and PSC former chairman K S Radhakrishnan will fight the election from Alappuzha. Union minister Alphons Kannanthanam has been chosen for Ernakulam and BJP state general secretary A N Radhakrishnan for Chalakudy.

C Krishnakumar, former vice chairman of Palakkad municipality, has been selected for Palakkad seat.

BJP national executive member P K Krishnadas said the final list of candidates will be released on Wednesday night, but it was not issued till going to press.

The central leadership is said to have advised Pillai to keep off from contesting this time. Pillai, who had been eying the Thiruvananthapuram seat, started lobbying for Pathanamthitta seat after Kummanam Rajasekharan was tipped as Amit Shah's pick in Thiruvananthapuram. Sources in the party said Shah has asked Pillai to oversee the entire election activities in Kerala.

The pressure from the RSS is said to be the main reason that went in favour of Surendran. State BJP brass too had come out in support of candidature for Surendran, who had spearheaded BJP's campaign in Sabarimala.

Pillai refused questions from reporters in New Delhi. All he said was that the central leadership would decide whether he is to contest the election or not. Sources said the BJP parliamentary party meeting left to Shah the final call on candidate selection.

BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao announced the seat sharing agreement among NDA constituents in Kerala. The BJP would contest the election from 14 of the total 20 Lok Sabha seats. The BDJS and Kerala Congress would share five and one seat, respectively. The seats from where the BJP will contest include Kasaragod, Kannur, Vadakara, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Ponnani, Palakkad, Chalakkudy, Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Attingal and Thiruvananthapuram. The seats allotted to BDJS are Wayanad, Alathur, Idukki, Thrissur and Mavelikkara. P C Thomas-led Kerala Congress has been allotted Kottayam seat.

Meanwhile, BDJS supremo Thushar Vellappally said his candidature in the Lok Sabha election was not yet decided. "Only the seat sharing discussions are over. The candidates' list for the seats allotted to the party would be declared after BDJS meeting in Kerala. The list would be out in two days," Thushar told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday.

However, sources say Thushar will have no option but to contest the Lok Sabha election. Amit Shah has asked him to do so if he really means to be a major BJP ally in Kerala. Thrissur seat, originally set aside for BJP, was given to BDJS on the condition that Thushar would contest from the constituency.