BJP municipal chairperson eats laddu presented by UDF; 18 BJP councillors to switch to Congress?

PALAKKAD: The infighting in the Palakkad BJP seems to be intensifying following the party's defeat in the Palakkad by-election. Meanwhile, Palakkad District Congress Committee (DCC) president A Thankappan and Palakkad MP VK Sreekandan responded that they would like to welcome 18 rebel BJP councillors of the Palakkad municipality into the Congress party. Sreekandan alleged that the situation in the BJP has become so bad for its representatives to continue in the party.

A faction supporting BJP state president K Surendran had blamed the 18 councillors for the party's defeat in Palakkad and its decline of votes in urban areas. Following this, the councillors came out openly opposing the leadership.

National Council member N Sivarajan had come out against P Raghunath and K Surendran. Sivarajan is a prominent leader among those who demanded that Sobha Surendran should be made the candidate in Palakkad. Municipality chairperson Prameela Sasidharan also alleged that failure in candidate selection led to the party's defeat in Palakkad. The councillors are planning to resign en masse if the leadership decides to go ahead by taking action against them.