Time ripe to constitute a broad NDA alliance in Kerala: BJP

The recent decision to form a state- level committee of NDA in Kerala is seen as a deft move by the central BJP leadership, based on the realisation that a broad alliance of various communities and outfits is essential for the saffron force to move forward in a state dominated by coalitions led by CPI(M) and Congress for decade.

BJP strategists will also try to woo minority Christian community-dominated Kerala Congress(M), which has snapped its more than three-decade old ties with the Congress-led UDF.

“Our aim is to make NDA effective in Kerala. We had been carrying out political work as BJP in the state so far. Now the time is ripe to constitute a broad NDA alliance involving all sections of society,” senior BJP leader V Muraleedharan said.

Claiming that people of Kerala are “fed up” with the politics and policies of LDF led by CPI(M) and Congress-led UDF, he told PTI that the BJP-led NDA is the only viable alternative force in the state to take on both the fronts.

Asked if they would welcome parties like KC-M in the NDA fold, he said the coalition’s doors are open to parties willing to work for Kerala’s total development and welfare of its people. “We do not believe in political untouchability,” he said.

BJP decided to form NDA at an all-party meeting with which it had made tie-ups for the May 16 Assembly polls.

BJP national president Amit Shah chaired the meeting at Kozhikode on Monday, a day after concluding the BJP’s national council meeting, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It elected BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan as NDA chairman and BDJS president Thushar Vellappally as the convener.