KPCC secretary, former CPI(M) councillor join BJP in Kerala

Thodiyoor Ramachandran, a Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) secretary and former United Democratic Front (UDF) chairperson in Karunagappally in Kollam, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at a party State headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on Monday.

He was formally inducted into the party by BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

The others who joined the party at the ceremony include former Thiruvananthapuram Corporation councillor and CPI(M)’s former Kovalam area committee member N.A. Rasheed, noted cardiologist Prathap Kumar N. and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Devaprasanth.

Mr. Ramachandran’s move comes shortly after he resigned from the post of UDF chairman in the Karunagappally constituency in protest against Congress MLA C.R. Mahesh.

Mr. Rasheed represented the CPI(M) in the Vizhinjam ward of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation from 2015 to 2020. He contested from the same ward as a rebel candidate in the local body election earlier this year. His entry into the fray played a key role in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate’s narrow defeat to the UDF candidate.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Chandrasekhar said the BJP would work to “bring a new government to Kerala”, adding that “change is the need of the State.”

While the BJP would focus on development-oriented politics and highlight people’s issues in the coming campaign, both the CPI(M) and Congress-led coalitions have sought to divert public attention, he alleged.