The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Palakkad municipality is embroiled in internal disagreements over the selection of candidates for the December 11 civic polls. Although no public declarations of discontent were made, two factions became clearly visible within the party.
One faction supports BJP state vice-president C. Krishnakumar and east district president Prasanth Sivan, while the other supports state treasurer and current municipal vice-chairman E. Krishnadas along with chairperson Prameela Sasidharan.
The BJP state leadership did not approve the candidate list for the district committee as it left out Mr. Krishnadas, Ms. Sasidharan and former national executive member N. Sivarajan.
Meanwhile, former municipal chairperson Priya Ajayan, who quit politics citing neglect and factionalism in the BJP, was at the receiving end of a cyber attack, allegedly by party workers, after a Facebook post.
The nomination paper submitted to the state leadership included the names of Mr. Sivan and Mr. Krishnakumar’s wife, Mini Krishnakumar, which drew sharp criticism from various quarters.
The anti-Krishnakumar section claims that most of the candidates on the list, including Mr. Sivan, were his supporters and that the list was prepared without taking Mr. Krishnadas and Mr. Sasidharan into confidence.
Mr. Sivarajan reportedly approached the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and protested against being denied the mandate.
Confident of victory
Speaking to the media, Mr. Sivarajan predicted that the BJP would win Palakkad city for the third consecutive term and insisted that there were no internal differences. “I will run in the election if the party tells me to, and I won’t if the party tells me not to,” he said.
Mr. Sivarajan argued that it was fine for the district president of the party to run for the municipality. He added that there is no need to debate the list of candidates with everyone and that he does not mind that he is not consulted.
A faction of the BJP had objected to Ms Sasidharan appearing on stage with Rahul Mamkootathil, the Palakkad MLA who has been accused of sexual misconduct, at a recent event. They even demanded her removal.
Published – 12 Nov 2025 21:17 IST
