Jiji Thomson wanted bigger post: BJP leader hits back over Gyanesh Kumar ticket claim

BJP leader Jiji Joseph on Sunday responded to former Keralam Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson's claim that he was offered a BJP ticket and a ministerial post if he won an election. Thomson had told a television channel on Saturday that then-serving IAS officer Gyanesh Kumar had suggested during a flight that he contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket.

The claim was widely shared by Opposition leaders, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who used it to target Kumar. The remarks have come amid protests by Opposition parties, including the Congress, over reported differences within the three-member Election Commission on decisions and instructions linked to electoral roll revision, deletion and addition of names, changes to forms for new voters, and access to voter data.

In a Facebook post, Joseph said political workers usually do not speak publicly about confidential discussions and meetings, but he was making an exception because of Thomson's latest remarks. He said that in 2017, when he was the state president of the BJP's Minority Morcha, a senior Sangh Parivar leader who was highly respected by BJP workers in Keralam asked him to invite Thomson to an event organised by the Minority Morcha in Kochi.

Joseph said the event was held on June 26, 2017, to honour Mar Chrysostom. He also shared photographs from the programme showing Thomson on the dais and speaking into a microphone. Former minister and UDF leader K M Mani was also present at the event, according to the photographs shared by Joseph.

Quoting his account of the episode, Joseph said: "I was the state president of the Minority Morcha at the time. A senior leader, highly respected by Sangh Parivar workers in Keralam, called me and asked me to invite Jiji Thomson to the programme. He told me that Thomson was interested in coming with us." Joseph said he then invited Thomson, who attended the event and "lavishly praised" Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union government's initiatives.

Joseph further claimed that after attending the BJP programme, Thomson was appointed an independent director of the central government-owned Cochin Shipyard, a post he held from 2017 to 2020. "I suspect that he had wanted an even bigger position," Joseph said. He ended his post with a dig at Thomson, saying, "Kittatha munthiri pulikkum" and wished the former chief secretary well.

Thomson has not yet responded to Joseph's allegations. The exchange follows Thomson's statement on the claimed BJP offer and the political row that followed.