V Muraleedharan's appointment in Narendra Modi govt indicates BJP's grit to consolidate Hindu votes in Kerala after LS poll drubbing

The elevation of V Muraleedharan as a minister in the Narendra Modi government at the Centre shows that Bharatiya Janata Party’s failure to win a seat in the Lok Sabha election has not deterred the party leadership from pursuing its mission to ‘conquer’ the southern state of Kerala. The prime minister’s decision to give the ministerial berth to a leader belonging to the majority community also reinforces the party’s focus on a Hindu consolidation for making the much-needed electoral breakthrough in the state where it has been able to win only one Assembly in its electoral history seat so far. Modi had sought to attract the minorities by rewarding Alphonse Kannanthamanam, a Christian, with a ministerial position in his first term. However, the bureaucrat-turned-politician failed to bring in the Christian community, which accounts for 18 percent of the state’s population, close to the party. In fact, he could not ensure the support of the community for himself. Alphonse ended third in the Christian-dominated Ernakulam constituency with a vote share of just 14.24 percent. BJP had shifted its focus to the majority community after faithful rose in protest against the Supreme Court verdict lifting the ban on menstruating women from entering the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta district. The party had viewed this as a golden opportunity to increase its footprint in the state, where Hindus constitute about 56 percent of the population. The defeat of the BJP candidates in Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta and Thrissur where the ripples of the Sabarimala issue were felt more, was seen as a defeat of its strategy to ride high on the religious sentiments. The state leadership of the party has, however, refused to see the poll debacle as a defeat of this strategy. The BJP core committee of the party that reviewed the election results concluded that the party could not get the full benefit of the Sabarimala issue as the faithful sought to use their votes to punish the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government for its attempt to implement the Supreme Court verdict without considering their religious sentiments. [caption id=“attachment_6735051” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] The prime minister’s decision to give the ministerial berth to a leader belonging to the majority community also reinforces the party’s focus on a Hindu consolidation for making the much-needed electoral breakthrough in the state where it has been able to win only one Assembly in its electoral history seat so far. Image/Facebook[/caption] The panel, however, viewed the increase in the vote share of the party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from 10.81 per cent in 2014 to 15.56 per cent in 2019 as a gain from the Sabarimala issue and its scope for future electoral gains. The committee claims that the faithful would rally behind the saffron party when the Modi government implement its electoral promise to find a legislative solution to the issue and help the party in the Assembly election due in 2021. Party sources admit that the party could not get the votes of a substantial number of the faithful, especially the upper caste Nairs, as the party had failed to take any steps to counter the 28 September Sabarimala SC verdict. Sunnykutty Abraham, a senior journalist based in Thiruvananthapuram, said that the party would have got the support of the faithful if the party had either filed a review petition against the verdict or forced its government to issue an ordinance shielding the customs and traditions prevalent in the hill shrine. He pointed out that the faithful had reposed their faith in the Congress-led opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) as its government had opposed the entry of women between the age of 10 and 50 in the temple when the apex court took up the petition seeking the entry of the prohibited women in Sabarimala. Senior BJP leaders hope that the induction of Muraleedharan in the Union ministry may clear the apprehensions in the minds of the faithful. By inducting Muraleedharan, the party is also eyeing the Left cadres since the party had witnessed the largest flow of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers into the party during his term as state president between 2010 and 2016. He was able to wean in the communist cadres, who started deserting the CPM in the wake of ideological disarray in the party in the 2010s.

A drive, he spearheaded during 2014-2015, saw the BJP’s membership rising from 5 lakh to 20 lakh. BJP strategists believe that the flow will increase now as the Left had suffered one of its biggest poll debacles in the state. The party is focusing more on the communist cadres as it was able to make electoral gains in the other communist bastions of Tripura and West Bengal by providing an ideological alternative to the Left workers.

The BJP does not find much scope in attracting workers from the UDF since their backbone is the minority community, who are still apprehensive of the Hindutva ideology of the party. The opposition coalition has been able to sweep the state this time due to the consolidation of minorities, who account for 46 percent of the state’s population, in its favour, [caption id=“attachment_6735081” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Born on 12 December, 1958 in Kannur district, Muraleedharan had entered politics through Akhila Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP). He spent a major part of his political career in providing ideological orientation to the party workers. Image/Facebook[/caption] Born on 12 December, 1958 in Kannur district, Muraleedharan had entered politics through Akhila Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP). He spent a major part of his political career in providing ideological orientation to the party workers. The leader who served as the All India convener of BJP training cell in 2005 was appointed as state vice president in 2006 with the main task of strengthening the ideological base of the party. Muraleedharan has been able to expand the grass root base of the party in the state by providing systematic training to the workers. His elevation to the Modi ministry is believed to be a reward to the role he played in strengthening the party. He had also played important roles at the national level. He has served as all-India secretary and general secretary of ABVP and vice-chairman and Director General of Nehru Yuva Kendra. He also served as the chief coordinator of the committee chaired by the Prime minister for celebrating the golden jubilee of Indian Republic in the year of 2000. As the office bearer of Nehru Yuva Kendra he received national attention for creating National Reconstruction Corps, which later came to be called Rashtriya Sadbhawana Yojana. Induction of Muraleedharan in the Modi ministry may silence the party critics, especially the LDF who have been accusing the Modi government of adopting a step-brother treatment towards Kerala because of the party’s failure to win any seat in the state.