The BJP’s capture of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation — its first mayoral win in Kerala — has sharpened the party’s push towards its long-stated goal of producing the State’s first BJP Chief Minister, with leaders signalling political momentum ahead of next year’s Assembly election.

Soon after V. V. Rajesh was elected Kerala’s first BJP Mayor, former State BJP president K. Surendran shared a Facebook post that drew wide attention.

The post featured a photograph of the official vehicles of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor parked outside the BJP’s Kerala headquarters, K.G. Marar Bhavan, with the caption “കട്ട വെയ്റ്റിംഗ് KERALA STATE -1”, meaning a highly anticipated wait to have a car with the number plate carrying ‘Kerala State 1’ parked in front of BJP headquarters.

This is widely interpreted as a subtle ambition to see the Kerala Chief Minister’s official car, which carries the number plate Kerala State 1, positioned alongside these vehicles, signalling the party’s aspiration for a BJP Chief Minister in the State.

Historic win in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation

Forty-nine-year-old V. V. Rajesh on Friday entered the record books as the first Bharatiya Janata Party leader to become Mayor of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, a development widely seen as a watershed moment in Kerala’s political landscape.

Rajesh secured 51 votes, while the CPM-led Left candidate R.P. Shivaji received 29 votes. The Congress-led UDF candidate and former legislator K.S. Sabarinathan secured 19 votes, while one independent councillor abstained.

The breakthrough came late on Thursday night when the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance secured the support of independent councillor P. Radhakrishnan, raising its tally from 50 to the crucial majority mark of 51 in the 101-member corporation.

With this, Rajesh’s victory in the mayoral election became a foregone conclusion. The NDA emerging as the single largest bloc itself was unprecedented. 

Local body elections end decades-long Left dominance

In the local body elections, the BJP stunned Kerala’s political establishment by winning 50 of the 100 wards that went to polls in the State capital, ending nearly 45 years of CPM dominance in the civic body.

The Left Democratic Front was reduced to 29 seats, while the Congress-led United Democratic Front managed 19 seats. Two wards were won by independents, and polling in one ward was postponed following the death of a candidate.

At a meeting of newly elected councillors at the BJP office on Thursday, party general secretary S. Suresh announced Rajesh as the mayoral candidate and Asha Nath as the Deputy Mayor nominee. Nath is a three-time councillor.

Rajesh’s elevation followed days of intense internal deliberations. State BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar made two trips to New Delhi, underlining the national leadership’s involvement.

The party was reportedly divided between Rajesh and former Director General of Police R. Sreelekha, before consensus emerged in Rajesh’s favour, with strong backing from the RSS.

Senior leaders attend, celebrations follow

Union Minister Suresh Gopi, State BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, former State presidents K. Surendran and Kummanam Rajasekharan, former Minister of State V. Muraleedharan, and several others were present to greet the new Mayor.

“This should have happened last time. Now that we are here, slowly things will change across the state,” said Gopi.

BJP supporters gathered in large numbers, with sloganeering and bursting of crackers soon after the results were declared.

Assembly polls and BJP’s CM pitch

With the Kerala Assembly election due in April next year, the BJP is projecting its recent local body gains as a political turning point.

In the 2021 Assembly polls, the BJP failed to win any seats, while the Left Democratic Front returned to power with 99 seats and the United Democratic Front secured 41 seats in the 140-member House.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the BJP-led NDA’s mandate in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation as a “watershed moment” for Kerala politics, crediting party workers and asserting that only the BJP can meet the State’s development aspirations.

BJP leader Shaun George echoed the optimism, claiming that traditional UDF and Kerala Congress voters are shifting towards the BJP, particularly in central and south Kerala.