Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah, winding up a three-day visit to Kerala, gave a clear message to the state unit of the party—win the support of all non-Muslim minorities, especially Christians, and backward caste Hindus, in order to win more seats in the 2019 general election, according to people privy to the discussions.
State BJP leaders, who attended key meetings with Shah, said that he asked to focus on the reality behind getting only one seat rather than boasting about the increase in vote share for the party in the 2016 assembly election.
Kerala is crucial for BJP in its efforts to become a truly national party. The saffron juggernaut, which is on a roll in most Indian states, has not yet been able to make an electoral footprint in Kerala—one of the few states where the BJP has never won a parliamentary seat. However, the party was able to carve some success recently, arguably with the rise of Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi within the BJP. In the assembly election in May last year, BJP doubled its vote share to 16% and won its first seat.
“He has learned Kerala politics better than any state leader. Now he knows how to tackle it,” said BJP state president and national executive member Sreedharan Pillai, NDTV report-ed.
Kerala has a strong presence of Muslims and Christians, who together make up close to half of the state’s population, as per the 2011 census. “The Muslim Lea-gue has more or less consolidated the bulk of Muslim votes, and it may be a tough nut to crack. But he (Shah) believes the Christian votes, along with the backward caste Hindu votes, may swing in favour of the BJP,” said another state BJP leader, who did not wish to be named.
On June 3rd, Shah visited top Christian priests, including Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) major archbishop M.Soosa Pakiam and Syro-Malabar Church major archbishop.
