‘Cornering of Siddaramaiah will cost more for Cong in Lok Sabha poll’
Niranjanananda Puri Swamiji of Kaginele Mutt warns
Bengaluru, June 28: Niranjanananda Puri Swamiji of Kaginele Mutt warned AICC president Rahul Gandhi that the Congress would have to face the consequences in the Lok Sabha election if the coalition government neglected former chief minister Siddaramaiah.
Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, the swamiji said that the Congress would not even get 15 seats in the Lok Sabha election if Siddaramaiah was neglected. The party leadership should understand this. The Kuruba community was not given due share in the Congress-JDS coalition government cabinet. Moreover, the present government was trying to ride on the officials belonging to the Kuruba community which is uncalled for, he said.
“HD Kumaraswamy is not the Chief Minister of a particular community. He is the CM for the entire state. So, it is not fair to target the officers from the Kuruba community. If he does not stop doing this, he will have to face the music. In the beginning, the government has neglected Kuruba community leader Siddaramaiah and now, targeting the officers from the community”, he said.
Because of the support of the Kuruba and Muslim communities, the Congress has got 80 seats in the Assembly election and because of the Congress support, Kumaraswamy had become the Chief Minister and he was not Vokkaliga community CM. He was the CM of 6 crore people of the state and it was his responsibility to treat all equally, he said.
He was pained to see the developments being happened in the last couple of days. The Chief Minister was taking revenge against the officers of the Kuruba community. Even after transferring them, they were not shown any posts. The community would not tolerate such developments, the swamiji said.
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BJP central leadership backs Kerala chief Surendran amid Palakkad bypoll loss
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The national leadership of the BJP on Monday threw its weight behind the Kerala state unit and its chief K Surendran despite a major vote loss in the Palakkad Assembly bypoll, asserting that the party had put up a "good fight" in the recently concluded election.
Rejecting reports that Surendran had expressed a willingness to quit taking moral responsibility for the defeat in Palakkad, considered one of its strongholds in Kerala, the BJP accused the CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF of "spreading rumours."
"Nobody is resigning neither party has sought anybody's resignation. I think this will settle the matter," senior BJP leader and party's in-charge Kerala, Prakash Javadekar, said in a post on 'X'.
Youth Congress state president Rahul Mamkootathil won the Palakkad seat with a margin of over 18,000 votes, even making inroads into BJP stronghold areas, delivering a shock to the saffron party, which had been hoping to win the seat after finishing second in the past few elections.
Adding to the BJP's woes, the Left improved its performance in the seat, narrowing the gap with the party.
"BJP has given a good fight in recently concluded by-elections in Kerala and got a massive mandate in Maharashtra. We will win Palakkad and many more assembly seats in 2026. We are here to make a difference in Kerala politics. People are looking up to BJP," Javadekar said.
The senior leader claimed that more than 15,00,000 voters have become voluntarily members of the BJP, by giving missed call and full information.
"Our membership drive will continue vigorously," Javadekar said.
His statement came amidst reports that the defeat had triggered widespread dissent within the Kerala BJP against Surendran.
Surendran's critics within the party allege that he unilaterally decided to field C Krishnakumar, his preferred candidate, for the Palakkad seat.
Before the candidate's announcement, some senior leaders had publicly advocated for the firebrand party leader Sobha Surendran.
In protest against Krishnakumar's candidature, BJP's popular television face Sandeep G Varier resigned and joined the Congress just ahead of the by-poll, delivering a significant blow to the saffron camp.
In the by-poll, BJP's Krishnakumar secured 39,549 votes (28.63 per cent), while Congress candidate Mamkootathil won with 58,389 votes (42.27 per cent). CPI(M)-backed P Sarin garnered 37,293 votes (27 per cent).
Surendran sought to downplay the setback, stating it is common for the BJP to see reduced votes in Kerala by-elections.
He claimed that many votes for the BJP candidate "Metro Man" E Sreedharan during the 2021 Assembly polls were apolitical, with cross-party support. However, he admitted, "In Palakkad, there was a decrease in the number of votes. We will introspect on it."
