On Sunday, the Saffron party in Kerala got five new aces in its hand, as five prominent personalities joined the BJP, including former ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair and former president of the Travancore Devaswom Board — the governing body of the Sabarimala temple — G Raman Nair. The other prominent individuals from God’s own country who embraced saffron are former women’s commission member; Dr Prameela Devi, Janata Dal (Secular) Trivandrum district vice-president; Karakulam Divakaran Nair and Malankara Church functionary; C Thomas John.
The BJP chief Amit Shah inducted all the new members into the party. The induction of these five prominent individuals especially ex-ISRO chief Nair comes amidst the unprecedented Hindu unity in Kerala, in the wake of ongoing protest against the Sabarimala verdict.
The Newsminute has quoted ISRO chief Madhavan Nair saying, “I have been working for BJP for quite some time now but yesterday, Amit Shah ji formally inducted me to the party. I am interested in Modiji’s philosophy of developing India, that’s why I want to work with BJP.”
Madhavan Nair was the ISRO chairperson from 2003 to 2009 and supervised India’s first mission to the moon- Chandrayan 1.
According to a Times of India report, Madhavan Nair on being asked, as to why he joined BJP, former ISRO chief said, “I am not a politician and even after this, I will not be one. I have been working with BJP for a while now because I was impressed with the development agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Yesterday, the party President (Amit Shah) just officially inducted me into the party.”
In Southern India, the saffron party has been on a consolidation mode. Recently, Sri Peetham seer Swami Paripoornananda had joined BJP in poll bound Telangana. Swami Paripoornananda is also called as the Yogi of South. He is very popular among Hindus and the tribal communities of the region. Swami Paripoornananda is a well known Hindu figure in almost all southern states with millions of followers. His devotion to country is admired by many people, his entry into the saffron party would improve party’s prospects in the state of Telangana as well as in other southern states.
Talks of superstar Rajnikanth and Mohanlal of embracing saffron are also making rounds. Except for Karnataka, BJP doesn’t have many credible faces in the South. What BJP needs in south, are crowd pullers and popular faces. Induction of prominent personalities like Swami Paripoornananda would fulfill that void in the region. They have their own fan base and mass support, so their entry gives mass acceptance to the party, in southern states.
Against all odds the BJP has managed to gradually increase its vote share in the state of Kerala, but is yet to make a major impact on a political note. The entry of prominent personalities into the Kerala BJP, is nothing less than a shot in the arm of the saffron party. With the popular sentiment in BJP’s favor and now with the induction of new, prominent leaders, BJP is on a firm ground in the south and looks well prepared for 2019.