Over 200 CPM workers to join BJP in Kannur, claims leadership

KANNUR: Seven months after the CPM in Kannur inducted rebel leaders like O K Vasu and A Ashokan into the party along with some local leaders and workers, the BJP seems set to reply in the same coin. The party claims that over 200 CPM members will join it soon.
The newly joined people will be given a reception in Kannur on August 24, said BJP district president K Ranjth.
"Though people from other parties like Congress and the JSS are also joining the BJP, the majority is from the CPM. There is resentment among the party workers against the party leadership, and they believe there is better freedom in the BJP," he said.
The workers include couple of former branch secretaries and local committee members apart from ordinary party workers and they had campaigned for the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha elections, said the BJP leader.
"In places like Kalliassery, where the BJP was weak, its vote share increased this time and even in Koothuparamba where the CPM had claimed the BJP lost its ground after Vasu Master and Ashokan left the party, the BJP's vote went up considerably, which shows that our acceptance among the people has increased over the years," said Ranjith.
This is not limited to Kannur alone but all over the state there is a trend in favour of the BJP, claimed BJP state president V Muraleedharan. Recently 250 people from the CPM had joined the BJP in the state capital and nearly 500 more are expected to join in the coming days, he said.
"The CPM has long lost its ideological ground and this has upset the common party workers," he said. However, the Congress is also in a similar situation and people are confident that the BJP is a better platform, he said.
Though the BJP's vote share had increased in the past too, the votes were mainly from the Congress but this time the increase in the vote share of the BJP was due to the vote leak in the CPM, he said.
However, the CPM leadership said no party worker or local leader have left the party to join the BJP.
"There is no basis in their claim and these are all gimmicks to impress BJP president Amit Shah who is expected to visit the state in the coming days," said CPM district secretary P Jayarajan. "The internal feud as well as power politics is fuming within the BJP and all these publicity stunts have emerged from that feud only."
The BJP leadership said before inducting the people who have left the Congress and the CPM, their details would be made public before inducting them into the party.