Pathanamthitta: The suspense continues

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When Union minister and BJP parliamentary board secretary J P Nadda announced the Kerala list in New Delhi late Thursday evening, he did not specify a reason for not declaring the candidate for

Pathanamthitta

seat alone. The candidate for Pathanamthitta would be declared separately, was all that Nadda offered by way of explanation.

Several senior BJP leaders expressed disappointment over the delay in announcement of the Pathanamthitta candidate, because this is a constituency where, in the backdrop of the Sabarimala issue, the party considers its chances of a surprise win high. Both, BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai and party’s state general secretary K Surendran were in the reckoning.

However, the central leadership on Wednesday persuaded Pillai to drop out of the race and, under pressure from the RSS, is known to have decided in favour of Surendran, a firebrand leader who was in the forefront of the Sabarimala agitation against the entry of young women to the hill temple. Other BJP leaders contended that the delay was deliberate, that it was meant to turn the spotlight on Pathanamthitta and the Sabarimala issue through a dramatic build-up.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Surendran offered darshan at Sabarimala temple, thereby completing his pilgrimage which had been thwarted when the police arrested him at Nilackkal at the height of the agitation.