RSS chief to visit Kerala to warm-up Sangh Parivar forces ahead of LS polls

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 4 (IANS) With the Lok Sabha polls round the corner and the BJP-led NDA not having any seat in the 140-member Kerala Assembly, the saffron party has set its sight to revive its cadres and for the purpose RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will be touring the state.

He is arriving this week and will be moving to select places. Sources have said that the tour is basically to gauge the mood and make strategy accordingly.

The state has 20 Lok Sabha seats and in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Kerala BJP-led NDA finished a distant third in 19 seats and managed a mere 15.64 per cent vote share. The Congress-led UDF won 19 seats securing a vote share of 47.48 per cent. The then ruling CPI(M)-led Left Front got 36.29 per cent votes and one seat.

In the 2021 Assembly polls, the BJP vote share went down by 2.60 per cent to reach 12.36 per cent compared to the 2016 Assembly polls.

So as things stand now, it appears to be a tough ask for the BJP to be able to open their account in the Lok Sabha.

Incidentally, the bane of the BJP in Kerala, an accepted fact even by the national leadership, is the deep-rooted factionalism. It is in this context that the arrival of the RSS supremo is being viewed as significant.

This visit is also expected to zero down on the likely candidates, even as there are a number of hopefuls. Speculation is there that Anil Antony, son of veteran Congress leader A.K.Antony, will be one among the new ones to be considered for the Lok Sabha poll.