india

Updated: Feb 22, 2020 16:42 IST

Senior BJP leader K Surendran assumed charge as the president of the faction-ridden Kerala unit on Saturday even as former state chief Kummanam Rajasekharan and two general secretaries kept away from the event.

But Rajasekharan, also former Governor of Mizoram, later clarified that he was busy with some other programmes decided much earlier. Interestingly, another senior leader P K Krishnadas, identified as the leader of the prominent faction that opposed Surendran’s elevation, surprised everyone with his presence. The state chief’s post was vacant for four months after P S Sreedharan Pillai was elevated as the Governor of Mizoram but intense infighting delayed the decision.

The state unit was divided into two prominent factions, one led by Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan and the other by P K Krishnadas. The two factions later came together after the party leadership issued an ultimatum.

A firebrand leader from north Kerala, Surendran’s immediate task is to ensure unity in the party and get ready for the local body polls, considered as the semi-final before the assembly elections due in April 2021. Contesting as a party candidate from Pathanamhitta in the last Lok Sabha elections, Surendran came a close third. During the Sabarimala agitation two years ago, he was arrested and spent more than a month in jail.