PONDICHERRY: In the coming election the BJP will be going to the polls after losing a significant gain that it made in the last Assembly elections.

Just days after the elections were announced its lone legislator — A M Krishnamurthy — resigned his seat and switched to the AIADMK.

He is now contesting on the AIADMK ticket from the Reddiarpalayam constituency, which he fought for the four previous Assembly elections on the "lotus" symbol and finally won last time garnering 44.48 per cent votes.

Each time he contested from the constituency, he substantially increased the percentage of votes.

When he switched sides, a good number of the party workers and block level leaders followed him. The BJP is facing a serious crisis in the constituency. "We had given him a free hand even in the appointment of block level leaders. All of them have deserted us," R Kesavelu, BJP State unit president told The Hindu .

Barring Reddiarpalayam, the BJP was not able to make any inroads in any of the 30 constituencies.

The party could only field candidates in 13 constituencies in the earlier Assembly elections. Its vote share in majority of these constituencies is between 0.86 per cent and 2.96 per cent.

The only constituencies where it could increase the percentage of votes were Mahe, Pallor (in Mahe region) and Yanam. In the two constituencies in the Mahe region its vote share increased to around 10 per cent and the party's Yanam candidate Gollapalli Gangadhara Pratap came second in the 2001 Assembly elections. Unfortunately for the BJP, he died recently. Unlike in the 2001 Assembly polls the party would be going it alone this time. In the last election the party tied up with the DMK.

The party State unit wanted to have an alliance this time too. "Our central leadership had given the nod and we were in touch with the AIADMK but the alliance did not materialise," said the party president.

However, he said, "We have strengthened our base in the urban pockets." This optimism is based on the gains it made in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail