Thiruvananthapuram: KPCC general secretary M J Job from Alappuzha, along with several other leaders, joined the BJP on Tuesday. They were inducted into the party by BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar. M J Job is a senior leader who has previously held key positions at the state level in both the Youth Congress and KSU.

Job’s exit from the Congress comes amid internal differences over candidate selection in Ambalapuzha. He had resigned from the party protesting the decision to back G Sudhakaran, who is contesting as an independent candidate in the constituency. The UDF has extended support to Sudhakaran and decided not to field its own candidate there, where H Salam is the LDF nominee.

According to Job, the decision to support Sudhakaran was taken by the central leadership without consultations within the state unit, including the KPCC. The BJP is likely to field Job in Amabalapuzha.

Among those who joined along with him were B Jayakumar, director of the Forward Community Welfare Corporation and NCP state secretary; Athira Anilkumar, former UDF district panchayat candidate from Chengannur; Pranesh Chandran, Congress Seva Dal district vice-president from Chittoor; and others including Vinesh Kurup, Polppalli Prakash, Sunil Raghavapuram, Sethu Verkkoli, and Sivakumar (Thampi). All of them received BJP membership from Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

BJP state general secretary Adv S Suresh was also present at the event.