Amit Shah in Kerala tomorrow to work out poll strategies

: BJP chief Amit Shah will arrive here on a one-day visit tomorrow to gear up the party for the 2019 general elections.

According to BJP sources, one of the main agendas of the party chief is to take stock of the preparations for the coming Parliament election and to work out strategies in this regard.

After arriving here in the morning, Shah would attend a party core committee meeting and also address leaders from selected districts.

He would also hold discussions with the leaders from Lakshadweep, they said.

Shah's visit assumes significance in the wake of uncertainty continuing over the selection of the party's new state president after the appointment of incumbent Kummanam Rajasekharan as the Governor of Mizoram in May.

Though discussions to zero in on a new state chief is going on at different levels in the saffron party, a consensus is yet to evolve among the leaders.

As the party is steering itself to face the Lok Sabha polls and working out ways to widen its base in the state, one of the worrying factors is the sore relations with Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), a key partner.

BDJS had stayed away from the campaign at the recently held Chengannur Assembly bypoll, where the BJP candidate came third.

BDJS is a political party formed by Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), a powerful organisation of the backward Ezhava community led by its general secretary Vellappally Natesan.

Party sources said Shah was likely to take note of the situation and resolve the issues with the party alley.

Kerala, dominated by the bipolar politics of CPI(M)-led LDF and Congress-headed UDF, continues to be a tough ground for the saffron party to make inroads.

However, the party's vote share had increased from six per cent to 14 per cent during the 2016 Assembly polls.

BJP also won a seat for the first time during the election.

Senior leader and former union minister O Rajagopal is the lone BJP member in the assembly.