Kochi/T'puram: Post-poll rumblings erupted in BJP's Palakkad unit amid reports that municipality councillors did not work enough for the victory of party candidate C Krishnakumar. While municipality chairperson Pramila Sasidharan and senior councillor N Sivarajan were vocal in their criticism of the district and state leadership for fielding Krishnakumar, the candidate sought to downplay the whole discussion saying that everyone worked as one entity for his win.
Sasidharan said the "the voters were disappointed with the candidate." "We often faced queries as to why we always have the same candidate.I had raised this concern with the party leadership six months ago. But once the candidate was announced officially, we worked together for the party's win," she said.
Refuting allegations that the poor performance of the municipality affected the voting pattern, she said the district leadership should have ensured that proper campaigning was done. "In most of our wards, we ensured majority votes for the party," Sasidharan added.
Sivarajan, who represents Melamuri ward, said councillors cannot be blamed for the party's electoral loss. "In our wards, BJP got the majority, but in Krishnakumar's ward, he lost votes. What does it reflect? The councillors are planning to write to the central leadership against the state and district leaders."
Krishnakumar said no complaint went against any councillor for the loss. "Everyone worked together and as one entity for the party's win," he said. All the councillors and standing committee chairpersons did all the work that were assigned to them," he added.
On the controversy surrounding his candidature, Krishnakumar said that it was decided by the central leadership. He mentioned that there were much better candidates than him, like Sobha Surendran, M T Ramesh, K Surendran, who could have contested.
Javadekar rules out Surendran's resignation
Amid calls for K Surendran's resignation as BJP state president, the party's Kerala prabhari Prakash Javadekar on Monday indirectly ruled out that.
"BJP gave a good fight in the recently concluded byelections in Kerala and got a massive mandate in Maharashtra. We will win Palakkad and many more assembly seats in 2026. We are here to make a difference in Kerala politics. People are looking up to BJP," Javadekar tweeted, adding that LDF and UDF were spreading rumours.
"Nobody is resigning. Neither party has sought anybody's resignation. I think this will settle the matter," he said just before the BJP state president rejected the rumours that he expressed a wish to resign, owning up the moral responsibility for the shoddy performance of the party in the byelections, especially in Palakkad.
Javadekar said he was amazed at the logic of the questions about whether BJP office-bearers would resign. "With this logic, Pinarayi Vijayan has to resign after LDF's defeat in elections. With the same logic, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has to resign after losing elections in Maharashtra and Haryana."