Thrissur Corporation polls: B Gopalakrishnan’s forecast misses mark
Thrissur: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faced a significant setback in the Thrissur Corporation, securing only seven seats, a marginal increase from the six seats it won in the previous corporation polls.
The party had entered the elections with high expectations, driven in part by bold claims made by BJP Kerala State Vice President B Gopalakrishnan on social media. In a widely circulated Facebook post on Friday, Gopalakrishnan predicted a fourfold increase in BJP seats and suggested that the Congress, currently holding 23 seats in Thrissur Corporation, could be reduced to five to ten seats, or even wiped out entirely.
In the post, Gopalakrishnan wrote:
“Who will win the Thrissur Corporation? I firmly believe the BJP will increase its current six seats fourfold and dominate the urban wards of Thrissur Corporation. In rural areas, it will be a direct fight with the Left Democratic Front (LDF). The Congress, with 23 seats, may be reduced to 5–10 seats or even zero. The BJP is expected to cross the magic number of 27 and emerge as the largest party.”
He also projected that the BJP’s presence across Kerala local bodies, currently controlling 14 Gram Panchayats and 2 municipalities, would increase fivefold, with the party expected to control at least 75 local bodies statewide. He added that the number of BJP members in Kerala, which was under 1,500 during the 2020 local body elections, could rise to 4,000–5,000, reflecting growing support in the state.
Despite these predictions, the results in Thrissur indicate that the BJP fell short of its ambitious targets, highlighting the challenges the party faces in consolidating urban and rural support in Kerala local body elections 2025.
The early results underscore the competitive nature of the Thrissur Corporation polls, with the Congress-led UDF and CPM-led LDF continuing to maintain strong footholds in key wards across the city.