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Veteran Malayalam actor Devan quits BJP, accuses party’s State unit of giving social reformer Sree Narayana Guru’s ideals the go-by
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Veteran Malayalam film actor Devan on Sunday publicly aired his intention to quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing the State unit of veering away from the ideals of social reformer and renaissance leader Sree Narayana Guru.Notably, Mr. Devan, who is currently the BJP’s State vice-president, made his “resolve” clear at a function at the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam-controlled Kanichukulangara Devi temple in Alappuzha. SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan heads the temple’s administrative committee. Mr. Devan said the BJP had veered away from the progressive social justice agenda set by the social reformer. “My politics is based on the social ideals of Guru. In the past five years, I have not seen them reflected in the BJP in Kerala. I have realised that the BJP State unit’s current line does not agree with my political orientation guided by the Guru’s ideals,” he added. ‘Contributed to poll win’Mr. Devan claimed that as the vice-president, he had pursued his organisational and political responsibilities with vigour and passion. “I worked aggressively for the BJP. I contributed to the victory of BJP’s candidates, including the party’s State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar in the 2026 Assembly elections. Even Mr. Chandrasekhar cannot not deny the fact,” he added.Mr. Devan said he arrived at his decision to quit the BJP’s primary membership after much introspection. “I had decided to part ways with the BJP in early 2026. I waited to make the declaration pointedly at the Kanichukulangara temple,” he said. Series of controversiesMr. Devan forayed into politics from the tinsel world in 2004. He launched the Kerala Peoples Party, which he merged with the BJP in 2021 at the instance of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Mr. Devan’s resignation from the BJP comes as the party’s State unit confronts a series of controversies, including alleged diversion of Assembly election funds for private use, leadership absenteeism, impaired political orientation and response and “factionalism.”Mr. Chandrasekhar has repeatedly denied the accusations. BJP leader P.C. George had raised the election fund misuse allegation, which he later sought to retract on Sunday. The Centre’s recent amendment to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act has threatened BJP’s social engineering outreach to Kerala’s Christian community and backwards-class voters, a significant section of which had hewed to the right in the 2026 Assembly elections. Published - August 16, 2026 05:54 pm IST
‘YSRCP chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has been hitting the road quite often after a hiatus of about a year following the election debacle, which could serve as a motivating factor for his party leaders and cadre.’ File | Raju Two years after suffering one of the most severe electoral setbacks in its history, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) appears to be trying its best to breach the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) fortress and once again gain a stronghold in Andhra politics. However, it has not been an easy task, primarily because, as political scientists point out, the YSRCP cadre base is in disarray, and has failed to capitalise on pertinent issues that could have become major rallying points against the Chandrababu Naidu-led NDA government.However, in the last few months, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, president of the YSRCP, has been hitting the road quite often after a hiatus of about a year following the election debacle, which could serve as a motivating factor for his party leaders and cadre.Mobilising effortsMr. Reddy began his comeback trail by opposing the State Government’s proposal to develop at least 10 of the 17 medical colleges under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode. However, as per analysts, the YSRCP chief could only partially capitalise on the issue as the government, to a large extent, was successful in changing public opinion by arguing that the PPP mode would allow colleges to become operational faster without placing the entire financial burden on the State, whose finances had allegedly been weakened by the earlier YSRCP government. The NDA government has consistently maintained that private investment is essential for completing unfinished infrastructure projects, improving facilities, and expanding access to specialised healthcare services.Additionally, with the success of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests in New Delhi, the YSRCP had been trying hard to scale up its protest over alleged irregularities in the District Selection Committee (DSC) recruitment, but has, so far, not been able to garner that kind of mass response or participation. The State government has rejected such allegations in the DSC recruitment process and insisted that the exercise was conducted fairly and transparently. The government not only countered every allegation with proof (or so it claims), it is also basking in the glory of successfully conducting the long-pending exam and recruiting close to 16,000 teachers.Falling back on farmersThe 2024 election results have certainly dented the YSRCP’s image, but Mr. Reddy is known for his resilience. Of late, he has been working on highlighting the issues plaguing farmers, especially those related to minimum support prices and the alleged unfulfilled promises of the ruling coalition.He began his campaign by engaging with farmers in February this year, when he visited chilli farmers at the Guntur Chilli Yard. He demanded that the State Government work out a remunerative price and also flagged the sharp drop in chilli prices. Here again, the State government was quick to address the issue through a multi-pronged strategy involving market intervention, financial aid, acreage management, and strict quality control measures.Farmers constitute a huge chunk of the electoral mandate and play a decisive role in election outcomes. Mr. Reddy’s father, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, had also focused on farmers’ welfare, which catapulted him to power as Chief Minister of undivided Andhra in 2004. He is still regarded as the farmers’ Chief Minister.Mr. Reddy’s every visit has been mired in some controversy, and at times the YSRCP has alleged police excesses. In almost every visit, there has been a scuffle with the police, including the one in Bangarupalem, where he had gone on July 9, 2025, to meet mango farmers, and in Srikakulam, where he had gone on July 30, 2026, to meet his former minister, Seediri Appalaraju. Some of his visits have also been controversial such as the rec
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