Alleged suicide of “disenchanted” workers dog BJP in run-up to local body polls in Kerala

The alleged suicide of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Anand K. Thampi on Saturday, who sought to implicate the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership in his death by accusing them of denying him a ticket in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation election, appears to have put the party on the defensive in the run-up to the local body polls in December.

The incident has rendered the BJP vulnerable to criticism, both from the Opposition and within the party, that the leadership routinely abandons dedicated party workers, sidelining them in candidate selection and organisational advancement in favour of arrivistes preferred by the leadership.

Matters seemed to come to a head for the BJP likewise on Sunday, when Salini, a Mahila Morcha leader, allegedly attempted suicide, accusing the RSS of derailing her electoral chances by ‘orchestrating’ a smear campaign against her. BJP leader V.V. Rajesh clarified that the party was yet to finalise candidate selection in Nedumangadu. He said the party would investigate Ms. Salini’s grievance.

The back-to-back developments seem not to augur well for the BJP’s public image. They erupted at a time when the controversy surrounding the death by suicide of Thirumala ward councillor K. Anil in October continued to dog the party. In his ‘suicide note’, Mr. Anil had expressed disenchantment with the BJP leadership for allegedly forsaking him when the cooperative society he headed, a major lender for party workers, imploded financially due to defaulted loans.

Moreover, the death by suicide of an RSS worker, who said he was the victim of recurrent sexual abuse at the hands of an RSS leader, had provided sensational grist to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] to put the BJP in the dock in September.

Minister’s visit

Meanwhile, the CPI(M) and the Congress have sought to implicate the BJP leadership in Anand’s death politically. CPI(M) State committee member and General Education Minister V. Sivankutty called on Anand’s family at his house and expressed his condolences. 

Later, Mr. Sivankutty said the police would hold accountable those who ‘abetted’ Anand’s suicide. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said the BJP was a troubled house under the leadership of State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Mr. Chandrasekhar said Anand was never in the running for a party ticket in the Corporation elections. He noted that Anand had joined the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), an INDIA bloc ally, and announced his Independent candidature.