Kerala polls: Rajeev Chandrasekhar slams Cong over less women given party tickets, accuses it of 'not promoting talent'

Thiruvananthapuram, March 20 (IANS) Kerala Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajeev Chandrasekhar, on Friday, hit out at the Congress after its leader Shama Mohamed expressed concern over less number of female representation in the party's ticket allocation for the state Assembly election, scheduled for April 9.

In a post on social media platform X, Congress leader Shama Mohamed urged the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to "help the Congress women of Kerala".

"Denied but not defeated. I respectfully urge my leader LoP Rahul Gandhi who I adore, respect and admire to help the Congress women of Kerala. Of the 92 tickets, only nine were given to women in the Congress," she said.

In her X post, she also wrote, "In 2024 Lok Sabha polls, only one woman was given ticket out of the 16 Congress tickets distributed. And if the woman happens to be talented, the situation is dire! Very very sad."

Reacting on Mohamed's concern, Kerala BJP President Chandrasekhar accused the Congress of not promoting talent in the party.

The State BJP President said, "I don’t know the woman (Shama Mohamed) and I don’t know her background, but it is certainly clear that talent plays no role in growth within the Congress. Otherwise, how do you explain D.K. Shivakumar becoming the Deputy Chief Minister (of Karnataka)? So there are other factors that determine growth within the Congress."

"Most of it is how sycophantic you are to the Gandhi family -- what you do for them. If you send briefcases and trunkloads of cash to the Gandhi family, you immediately become a Deputy Chief Minister, that is how I see it, this is my opinion and unfortunately for the Congress that is the opinion of most of the people in their party," Chandrasekhar added.

Asked about the BJP-led NDA's prospects in the upcoming Kerala Assembly polls, the State BJP President said, "Every day that we are campaigning, we (NDA) are getting a response from people that is beyond our expectations. And it is not just about the BJP-NDA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, me, or the party's candidates. People are saying we want change."

"They (people of Kerala) want new political dispensation which will give them development so this is the undercurrent that is determining people's decision in this state election. I have said before that this is going to be a historical election," Chandrasekhar added.

--IANS

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