The RSS leadership has denied allegations by its organisation’s ideologue R Balashankar that there was a BJP-CPM deal ahead of the upcoming Kerala polls in Chengannur, Aranmula and Konni. Gopalan Kutty, RSS Kerala chief, told a news organisation that he did not know anything about Balashankar’s candidature and would not comment further on the issue.
“Candidates are decided by the BJP leadership from Delhi. If they are aware of the individual then the name will be on the list. However, there is no point in refuting that list here, and I was only aware of this after Balashankar had revealed it,” Gopalan Kutty said, adding that RSS’ candidate is BJP’s candidate. “Balashankar had not informed BJP that he wanted to be a candidate, and the candidates are decided by the party. No such discussions have taken place anywhere,” he said, also rejecting Balashankar’s history as the editor of the Organiser. He pointed out that people not from RSS has also been editors of the publication.
At the same time, R Balashankar is adamant that everything he said is true. He had alleged that the CPM and BJP were colluding in Aranmula and Chengannur to allow K Surendran’s victory in Konni. Balashankar also lamented that the BJP leadership in Kerala was a mafia group and had been working for the movement for 40 years and he had been removed from the list of candidates in Chengannur. Addressing Gopalan Kutty master’s claims, Balashankar said that he had expressed his interest to contest in the election with the RSS, adding that the latter did not deny him.
Moreover, Balashankar took a poke at the RSS Kerala chief stating that the latter might not be reading the Organiser. “I have been the editor of the Organiser for 11 years. How would that be possible if I weren’t a member of the RSS? These are information that is available in the public,” he added. However, BJP state president K Surendran said that Balashankar was dissatisfied with not getting the seat and the latter had not told him that he wanted to contest. “We had recommended a candidate for Chengannur, the central leadership made the choice. We weren’t adamant about our recommendations,” Surendran told the media.
