The dramatic entry of Congress president Rahul Gandhi into the Wayanad Lok Sabha segment and the National Democratic Alliance decision to field Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) president Thushar Vellappally against him has propelled the fledgling party into national politics and enhanced its scope for bargaining within the alliance.
Though the BJP national leadership offered Thrissur that was listed as one of the probable segments where the party could register an impressive performance to Mr. Thushar, he initially shied away from joining the race citing various reasons.
The main reason was reported to be the grouse BDJS nursed against the BJP leadership for failing to honour the commitments made to it while joining the alliance.
BJP president Amit Shah had to virtually coax Mr. Thushar to take up the candidature since he felt it was quite decisive to cast an impression that the NDA State unit was still intact and it was embarking on a serious contest in the State.
The move was also aimed at perplexing the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam leadership that had lent support to the Left Democratic Front’s initiatives for conserving renaissance values post- Sabarimala agitation led by the Sangh Parivar.
Mr. Thushar is reported to have wrested concrete assurances from the BJP leadership before taking the plunge and when it sounded out the need to relinquish the seat and shift to Wayanad in the wake of Mr. Gandhi’s entry, he conceded without any dissent.
The fight against Mr. Gandhi will afford the BDJS the space within the NDA to strike a better bargain and also become the pivot of the discussions in national politics.
Though the BJP had made a series of commitments to the BDJS when it was inducted into the NDA State unit, none of them were honoured and their relations had strained before the Chengannur Assembly byelection.
The decision to shift Mr. Thushar to Wayanad would give an opportunity for the BJP to have one of its prominent leaders, mostly a State general secretary, to contest from Thrissur and that would help to contain the discord over seat-sharing to a certain extent too, sources said.