The stalwart’s re-induction to the BJP, in the face of stiff opposition, was supposed to galvanise the party, which is in the thick of a fierce electoral combat. But nothing of the sort has happened. If anything, Mukundan’s ‘ghar wapsi’ has, once again, bared the party’s faultlines.

The cold reception Mukundan was accorded was proof enough, if proof were needed, of the deep schism afflicting the party. None of the top State leaders were present to receive the veteran leader, who sought to play down the ‘total boycott’ by the state leaders.

It is an open secret that a section of the State BJP continues to be hostile to Mukundan. If they have not openly revolted against the decision to bring him back to the BJP, it is only because of the stern warning issued by the central leadership. The various state leaders had refrained from receiving Mukundan on the specious plea that they are all busy with their poll campaigns!

True, Mukundan has the full backing of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president, Amit Shah. But that alone won’t ensure him a smooth return to the ‘Parivar’ was clear from the poor reception he got on his return.

The indifference to the return of Mukundan is of a piece with the cold shoulder given to another veteran leader, K. Raman Pillai, who also rejoined the BJP on the express instructions of the central BJP leadership.

Significantly, BJP State president Kummanam Rajasekharan’s reservations on the issue were clear from his statement welcoming Mukundan back into the party. Kummanam sought to underline the fact that the veteran’s return was unconditional and he would remain an ordinary member of the party. The message to Mukundan was loud and clear: don’t expect to be given an important party post in the near future.

Be that as it may, it is a known fact that Mukundan is immensely popular with the state RSS and BJP cadres. The central BJP leaders have requisitioned his services because of his known organizational skill and his excellent rapport with various sects of the Christian community in the state. They believe that Mukundan will be able to enlist the support of these Christian sects, which is essential for the BJP to put up a reasonable performance in Central and south Kerala. However, if the response of the Christian groups to the B JP’s overtures, so far, is anything to go by, then Mukundan has a tough task on his hands.

Ironically, it was his huge popularity among the RSS and BJP cadres which had caused his decline, and subsequent decade-long hibernation in the state BJP.

Moreover, Amit Shah thinks that Mukundan’s return will soften the Nair Service Society’s hostility to the BJP as he has excellent relations with the NSS leaders, including NSS general secretary, G. Sukumaran Nair. The BJP believes that, with Mukundan back in the party, the frosty NSS-BJP relations will clearly improve.

But the BJP leaders’ hopes may be misplaced as the NSS has not shown any eagerness, so far, to cosy up to the former. NSS leaders have made it clear that they are not for a unity of all the Hindu community organizations. The NSS has said, time and again, that secularism remains the bedrock of the organisation’s policy, and any dilution of it in the name of Hindu unity, was out of question. That being the reality, it remains to be seen whether Mukundan will succeed in building bridges with the NSS.

Mukundan’s return is also an admission of the failure of the State BJP to forge a third front bringing under its umbrella all the Hindu community organizations to counter the blatant minority appeasement policy of the Congress-led UDF Government in the state. So far, only the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), a political party formed by the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam(SNDP), the powerful organisation of the Ezhava community, has forged an alliance with the BJP. It is also a fact that even the BJP-BDJS tie-up has not jelled at the ground level as majority of the Ezhavas, who form 27 per cent of the state’s population, are Left-oriented. (IPA Service)