The BJP’s lack of electoral success in Kerala, the latest being the debacle in the recent Assembly by-elections, has triggered calls for state president K. Surendran’s head as the Kerala leadership prepares to meet in Kochi on Tuesday.

With pressure mounting on Surendran, who has been in office for five years now, all eyes are on whether he steps down or the central BJP leadership forces his hand.

On the eve of the Kochi meeting, the 54-year-old Surendran met the media in Kozhikode and accepted moral responsibility for the defeat in the Palakkad by-election.

Palakkad is considered a BJP stronghold, but the party’s initial edge diminished following the “blue suitcase” controversy raised by Congress candidate Rahul Mamkoottathil.

The CPM and the BJP had alleged that Fenny Ninan, a leader of the Congress-affiliated Kerala Students Union, had come to a Palakkad hotel with a cash-laden suitcase, prompting a midnight police raid on the rooms of women Congress leaders.

As the issue snowballed, the Congress candidate gained politically.

BJP candidate C. Krishnakumar had already faced a backlash from a lobby within his own party that wanted the firebrand state BJP vice-president, Sobha Surendran, to contest.

But Krishnakumar had strong backing from K. Surendran, and the central BJP leadership was told he had the better chances of winning from Palakkad.

During the 2021 Assembly elections, “Metro Man” and BJP candidate E. Sreedharan had narrowly lost from Palakkad by 3,859 votes. But when Rahul Mamkoottathil’s victory margin turned out to be 18,840 this time, a blame game began within the BJP leadership.

“I have no personal interest in continuing in office. It’s the discretion of the national BJP leadership whether I should step down or complete my tenure,” K. Surendran told reporters.

“Even though winning or losing an election is a collective responsibility, it still lies solely on the state BJP president. My role has to be audited; let the centre take a call.”

The Kochi meeting has the membership campaign as its main agenda, but it is expected to be stormy. Former junior foreign minister V. Muraleedharan and Sobha Surendran are both said to be eyeing the state president’s post.

After the ruling Left Democratic Front and the Opposition United Democratic Front won an Assembly by-election each, the CPM has begun a social media campaign claiming there’s no anti-incumbency against the Pinarayi Vijayan government.

Else, the CPM cyber activists are arguing, the party would not have won the reserved Chelakkara seat.

CPM candidate U.R. Pradeep defended the party bastion, winning with 12,201 votes more than the Congress’s Ramya Haridas, who had also tasted defeat in the 2024 general election from Alathur. Ramya being given a second chance, this time from Chelakkara, has triggered a war of words among Congress leaders.

The state Congress is expected to come up with a cliché sub-committee to study the failure although the reasons — poor candidature and weak local leadership — are known to all.