Leaders leaving Congress one by one; confidant of former Chief Minister to join BJP

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Days after K Karunakaran's daughter Padmaja Venugopal left the Congress, another prominent leader is leaving the Congress to join the BJP. According to reports, Thiruvananthapuram Corporation's former opposition leader Maheshwaran Nair will soon join the BJP. He was an executive member of KPCC. Maheshwaran Nair was very close with K Karunakaran.

The fact that leaders are leaving the party one by one ahead of the Lok Sabha elections is a heavy blow for the Congress. Soon after Padmaja joined the BJP, former DCC general secretaries Thampanoor Satheesh and Udayan, former sports council chairperson Padmini Thomas also left the Congress and joined the BJP. Thampanoor Satheesh joined the BJP saying that he was not given due representation in the reorganization of KPCC despite working for the party for several years. Padmini Thomas alleged that women in the party are not given due consideration and that there are currently five groups within the party.

Former Union Minister Panampilly Govinda Menon's granddaughter Sujatha Menon and husband Anil Krishnan joined the BJP the other day. The couple received the membership from BJP state vice president Dr KS Radhakrishnan, district president Adv KS Shaiju and district general secretary S Saji.

Meanwhile, the BJP is hinting that more prominent Congress leaders will soon leave the party and join the BJP. Some reports had claimed that a minister in the Oommen Chandy cabinet and a former MLA would also leave the party.