BJP in Karala looks to Amit Shah's visit to boost prospects

The Kerala unit of the BJP is eagerly waiting for party national president Amit Shah's three-day state visit from Aug 30, hoping it will boost its poll prospects.

During his visit, Shah will take part in a brainstorming session with the state leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party besides addressing a public meeting.

The main purpose of the visit is to ready the party for the local bodies' election scheduled for next year.

"He has specifically instructed that there should be no celebrations for him," state BJP president V. Muraleedharan told reporters here Saturday.

The BJP is yet to open its account in the state, both in the 140-member assembly and in the 20 Lok Sabha seats.

The party is banking upon the fact that even though it did not win any of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the recent polls, its vote share increased from 6.4 percent in 2009 to 10.8 percent in 2014.

Also, in the 2010 elections to local bodies, the party almost doubled its seats from 550 in the 2005 polls to more than 970 seats. It also managed to come second in more than 1,000 seats in these elections.