Kesavan, Antony, Reddy in tow, BJP all set for South India election campaign

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, April 8

Bharatiya Janata Party’s southern push got a boost on Saturday with the great grandson of the legendary freedom fighter and Congressman C Rajagopalachari, CR Kesavan, joining the ruling party.

New in saffron fold

• CR Kesavan, great grandson of Congressman C Rajagopalachari, joined the BJP on Saturday
• He had resigned from the Congress on February 23 after spending 20 years in the party 2019 performance
• Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala did not return a single saffron MP to the Lok Sabha in 2019
• Sources says the party will intensify its outreach on 160 identified weak LS seats (where it lost in 2019), with the majority of these in the South

BJP CEC meet today

The BJP central election committee will meet on Sunday to finalise candidates for the May 10 Karnataka elections.

Kesavan, who had resigned from the Congress on February 23 after spending 20 years in the parent party, formally became a primary member of the BJP on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated development projects in Tamil Nadu and Telangana ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Kesavan followed veteran Congress man AK Antony’s son Anil Antony and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Reddy, with party sources hinting at more arrivals and describing the list of joinees as “thick”.

“I am joining the BJP on account of Prime Minister’s transformative leadership, his calm and effective response to Covid when the world was struggling to cope with the pandemic and his policies that have raised India’s stature in the comity of nations. Today, any young right-minded person, who wants to be part of nation building, would want to join the BJP. My ideology is motherland first, nation first,” he said.

Kesavan recalled his great grandfather Rajagopalachari, the last Governor General of India who quit the Congress to form the Swatantra Party at the age of 81.

“I am much younger to realise where the right side lies. There were two epic characters — Karana of the Mahabharata, who continued to be on the wrong side, and Vibhishana of the Ramayana, who chose ‘dharma’ and stood with Lord Rama. I am Vibhishana,” Kesavan said.

He said he wanted to be part of the BJP’s vision of building a developed India by 2047.

Three back-to-back joinings (Kesavan from TN, Anil Antony from Kerala and Kiran Reddy from Andhra Pradesh) are part of BJP’s 2024 Lok Sabha poll preparation when it could field new joiners as candidates.

Thus far, South India has remained the sole bastion out of BJP’s electoral reach.

Out of 128 Lok Sabha seats in five southern states, the BJP holds only 29. Importantly, while BJP’s national strike rate in the 2019 General Election was 69 per cent (it won 303 of the 436 seats contested), in South India, it fell to 22 per cent with Karnataka being the sole saving grace where the BJP bagged 25 of 28 LS seats. In Telangana, it won four out of 17 segments. In TN (39 LS seats), Kerala (19) and Andhra Pradesh (25), the BJP drew a blank in 2019.

The entry of Kesavan, Antony and Reddy, is part of BJP’s strategy to gain a southern foothold and catch potential nominees for the 2024 LS polls.

Sources said the party was set to intensify its outreach on 160 identified weak LS seats (where it lost in 2019) with the majority of these in the South.

Asked if he would contest the 2024 General Election, Kesavan said, “I am a loyal party soldier and will do as asked.”