BJP's trump card to capture Shafi's Palakkad; firebrand leader ready for big fight

PALAKKAD: As per insider reports, BJP will nominate a woman leader in the by-election in the Palakkad assembly constituency. It is reported that the leadership will zero in on the saffron party’s firebrand face Sobha Surendran.

It will be the central leadership who will take the final call on the issue. It is reported that C Krishnakumar's name is also under consideration. Shobha is one of the few leaders in BJP with a knack for increasing vote percentage wherever she contests. In Alappuzha, known as a communist bastion, Shobha increased the vote share of BJP from 17.24 to 28.3 per cent. Shobha secured 2,99,648 votes in Alappuzha. Based on this, the party estimates that Shobha can easily taste success in the Palakkad constituency.

In Alappuzha, it was usual for the BJP to tally votes less than 50,000 in LS polls. This trend was upended by Dr KS Radhakrishnan, who raised the number of BJP votes to over one lakh in the 2019 elections. However, Shobha's Gung ho attitude reaped big profits for BJP as the party garnered more than two lakh votes this time from Alappuzha. SNDP votes and women's votes helped fortify the leader's vote percentage.

Palakkad Assembly Constituency includes Palakkad Municipality, Kannadi, Mathur and Pirayiri Panchayats. In this Palakkad Municipal Corporation is ruled by the BJP. Mathur and Pirayiri are with the UDF and Kannadi is with the LDF.