When the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National meet commences in Kozhikode on Fridayevening, the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) -one of its important allies in Kerala- has expressed concerns over its sidelining, alleging that the BJP has not kept its promises made at the time of coalition.
BDJS leader and Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) general secretary Vellapally Natesan on Friday told the media that BJP is yet to fulfill its promises, and that such procrastination has begun to worry the BDJS party workers.
“Group clashes within the BJP could be the reason for sidelining us. They have not kept any of their promises which were mutually agreed upon. The leaders who are supposed to execute the same seem to be doing nothing, both at the state and central levels. No important positions were assigned to BDJS leaders,” Natesan alleged.
Though Natesan was unwilling to reveal the exact nature of the pre-poll promises made by the BJP, he reiterated that none of them were fulfilled by the saffron party.
Earlier there were reports that Tushar Vellapally -BDJS state president and Natesan’s son- was offered Rajya Sabha membership post the assembly polls. It was also reported that certain important appointments on Central Government Boards and Corporations were offered to the party which is backed by SNDP, the largest Ezhava (a Hindu sub-caste) organisation in Kerala.
While Vellapally accused the BJP of indulging in false promises, his son and BDJS head Tushar categorically denied any chance of a probable split in the political alliance.
Speaking to reporters on the issue, Tushar clarified that there are no issues of conflict between the BDJS and BJP.
“Granting various posts to the BDJS is being delayed due to technical reasons. Party workers were worried over the delay, but we expect it to soon come through,” he affirmed. Tushar attributed Natesan’s remarks as being the personal opinion of his father.
Kerala state BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekharan also confirmed to the media that there were absolutely no problems in the BJP-BDJS alliance. He also gave an assurance that the BDJS would soon be awarded with a few positions of importance.
The BDJS is also set to hold a meeting in Kozhikode on Friday to discuss about the supposed stand-off with the BJP central leadership.
It was in March 2016 that the BDJS and BJP sewed up an alliance to jointly take on the UDF and the LDF in the assembly polls held in May this year. The BDJS party was formed in December 2015.