The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national leadership is reportedly gearing up to crack the whip on the discontent and factional feud in the State unit of the party following the recent change of guard.
The conspicuous absence of certain leaders, except those who had prior commitments, on the day incumbent K. Surendran assumed office here has irked the national leadership that had repeatedly warned against the schism that is threatening to destabilise the organisational apparatus in the State, party sources said.
The BJP national leadership is understood to have given the go ahead for Mr. Surendran to act tough and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh too has endorsed it.
Revamp soon
Organisational revamp is expected to be completed in a fortnight. RSS leaders Valsan Thillenkeri and C. Sadanandan may get prime organisational positions in the revamp. BJP State spokesperson M.S. Kumar and Palakkad municipal vice-chairman C. Krishnakumar are tipped to be State general secretaries, sources said.
In an attempt to stave off the top leadership’s ire, some of the dissident leaders chose to meet Mr. Surendran before he reached the office and some others registered their presence by arriving late.
The absence of such leaders at the function and their alleged indifference had drawn media attention and triggered discussions. Such discussions have led to a feeling that changes at the helm are inadequate to unify the party, even in the run up to the crucial local body and Assembly elections.
The leadership claims that the party wields considerable clout in a number of local body wards and hopes to improve its tally in the local body elections due within the next six months.
NDA in disarray
Moreover, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is in a state of disarray in the State and stitching it up again into a cohesive whole is a major challenge for Mr. Surendran. The next attempt is for reviving the alliance, sources said.
At a Meet-the-Press here on Monday, Mr. Surendran, however, dubbed reports about factionalism as baseless.