Kalpetta: K P Madhu, former district president of the BJP in Wayanad, has resigned from the party. He cited groupism and neglect from both state and district leadership as reasons for his decision. Madhu directed sharp criticism at state president K.Surendran and district president Prasanth Malavayal, among others. The new development comes after election results revealed BJP candidates in Wayanad, Palakkad and Chelakkara constituencies failed to make much impact during recently concluded bypolls. Notably, this also comes at a time when Palakkkad BJP unit appears to be in discord after election results

"BJP does not need groupism or internal conflicts. I did not join BJP to engage in internal rifts or hustling. Proper political work was not carried out. The issues in Palakkad were part of groupism. We were told, 'let's look at the candidature and elections in Palakkad, while you focus on Wayanad,' and were thus pushed into two groups. The same situation prevails in Wayanad. It is unclear what led to this groupism," he said.

According to him, the party has never been able to make a candidate to win from Kerala.

"O. Rajagopal won with sympathy votes. Suresh Gopi is a celebrated actor, and he won solely due to his fame," noted Madhu.

He also pointed out that Sandeep Varier had raised similar allegations.

He claimed that the Bathery election bribery case allegations against Surendran were the reason behind the strengthening of the bond between Surendran and Malavayal. He further alleged that this relationship was the cause of his neglect.

Madhu was removed from his party responsibilities in February following a controversial statement made during clashes related to wild elephant attacks. Malavayal was appointed as the district president in his place.

Madhu, who began his political journey through branch-level activities, has held positions including Youth Morcha district president and BJP’s Bathery unit president. During his tenure, the BJP made notable strides in Bathery. He has been completely out of active politics for the past two months. It is learnt that he has been engaging in political discussions with Congress and CPM leaders.