Thiruvalla, Friday, November 27, 2009: Members of the core committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party who would complete their tenures would convene a state leadership meet today at Thiruvalla.

The BJP central leadership had deputed BJP all India secretary Balbir Punj, who is in charge of party affairs in Kerala to work out a consensus for unanimous election of the State president and the formulator would also oversee the election process.

Though the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) favours vice president V. Muraleedharan as the new president, there are differences of opinion in the party over the choice. Names of C.K. Padmanabhan and P.P. Mukundan are touted as alternatives to Muraleedharan. Given the groupism in the party, it would not be an easy task for the Central leadership to achieve a consensus. The leadership has assured the committee that the opinions of State leaders would be taken into consideration for the choice of the new president.

As per the party Constitution, the new president is to be elected before the end of December. The term of the incumbent P.K. Krishnadas ended early this month. The election of the State president would be preceded by elections at the booth, constituency and district levels.