Thiruvananthapuram, 18 August (H.S.): Congress MLA of Keralam ,Sandeep Warrier has launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, alleging that it has abandoned the political values associated with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and transformed itself into a 'Gujarati company.'

Warrier made the remarks in a Facebook post while endorsing the criticism recently levelled against the BJP by its former Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai. Although he did not agree with Annamalai on every political issue, Warrier said the concerns raised by the Tamil Nadu leader were factual, significant and deserving of serious public debate.

'The BJP is no longer merely a north Indian party. It has become a Gujarati party, or more precisely, a Gujarati company,' Warrier alleged.

He accused the BJP-led Union government of posing a serious challenge to the federal principles enshrined in the Constitution. According to him, the party's approach towards the southern states reflected deep-rooted political discrimination and a lack of respect for India's linguistic and cultural diversity.

Warrier further alleged that several senior BJP leaders displayed a dismissive attitude towards the people of South India. The practice of assigning Hindi names to almost every major central government programme was a deliberate attempt to sideline southern Indian languages, he claimed.

The Congress legislator said the BJP's present style of functioning was markedly different from the relatively inclusive political culture seen during Vajpayee's leadership. He argued that power had become increasingly centralised and that regional voices within the party were being ignored or marginalised.

Warrier's intervention comes amid renewed political discussion over the BJP's organisational approach in South India and Annamalai's recent public observations about the party. His remarks are likely to intensify the debate over regional representation, federalism and linguistic inclusion in the BJP's national leadership and policymaking structure.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman