Thiruvananthapuram: Aiming for a better show, the Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has started preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
BJP-in-charge of Kerala and former Union Minister, Prakash Javadekar has announced in Alappuzha that K. Surendran would continue as the president of Kerala unit till the 2024 general elections.
Sources said that the party would now put to rest all the controversial issues and concentrate on the elections. The BJP is aiming for two seats from Kerala, with Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad in the top slot for the party to win.
While party state general secretary, C. Krishnakumar has already started preparing for the Palakkad Lok Sabha seat, the party is yet to reach an understanding for its Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha candidate.
Actor-politician and former nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, Suresh Gopi is the front runner for the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat for the BJP.
The party is also considering the candidature of Union Minister for Skill Development, Rajeev Chandrashekhar for the Thiruvananthapuram seat.
With the sitting Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor more likely to continue to contest from the seat, the BJP is trying to wrest the seat from him.
The recent statements of the influential Nair Service Society general secretary, G. Sukumaran Nair indicate that he has thrown his weight behind Tharoor.
While both Suresh Gopi and Rajeev Chandrashekar are from the Nair community in a predominantly Nair constituency, the party will have to take out all arms and ammunition to humble Tharoor who will be contesting for the fourth consecutive term from the same constituency.
As part of the BJP’s South India programme, the party has brought in a high-profile leader like Prakash Javadedkar in charge of the party affairs in Kerala and the BJP has already commenced the electioneering work.
The BJP’s state leadership has already announced that the party would not be singling out constituencies and it would contest all the 20 constituencies in the state even as its concentration will be primarily on the two constituencies — Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad.
Thrissur, Attingal, and Kasargod are the other three Lok Sabha seats that the party is eyeing but sources in the BJP told IANS that it would be “seriously campaigning” in Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad.
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