Can Kerala’s first BJP civic body survive?
Kerala’s first-ever BJP-led municipal corporation is on the verge of being subverted by the lethal combination of the Congress and the Communists. The election to the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, held in November 2025, resulted in the ouster of the CPI(M), which had been in power for the previous 45 years, and saw the BJP-led front wrest power, much to the shock of both the Congress and the CPI(M). The BJP won 50 of the 100 wards at stake, and V. Rajesh was elected Mayor. The CPI(M) and the Congress were caught in a dilemma, as both parties were fighting each other in the state. Though the CPI(M) and the Congress are constituents of the INDIA Alliance outside the state, they were forced to act as foes in Kerala in order to prevent the Hindutva party from gaining any advantage.
Now that the Assembly elections are over and the CPI(M) was decimated in the hustings, it is time for the INDIA Alliance partners to play the ball together and pull the BJP from power. As a prelude to unseating the saffron brigade from power in the corporation, the Congress-led UDF got a BJP councillor arrested under the dreaded Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 2007 (KAAPA). The councillor, Sugathan, is a widely respected local leader who has always been at the forefront of agitations against the government. With the incarceration of Sugathan, the BJP’s strength in the House came down to 49, making it a sitting duck for the CPI(M)-Congress combination. There are reports that the Kerala Police are likely to arrest at least four more BJP councillors so that the CPI(M)-Congress combine can wrest power.
Moreover, the BJP councillors played into the Opposition’s hands, according to Vadayar Sunil, a veteran journalist and political commentator. “Twenty of the thirty councillors took the oath of office either in the name of Lord Padmanabha or Attukal Devi, the presiding deities of Thiruvananthapuram. This was against the law because they were supposed to take the oath of office in the name of God. The councillors were given wrong advice, and some Marxists dragged the issue to court. The court, after hearing the petitioners, ruled that the councillors had committed a mistake by taking the oath contrary to the prescribed norms and directed them to take the oath again in accordance with the provisions of the Representation of the People Act,” said Sunil.
The erring councillors were re-administered the oath of office on Thursday, though the fate of Sugathan, the KAAPA detenu, remains uncertain. The grapevine is that the arrest of Sugathan is the handiwork of Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, whose hatred for the Hindutva party needs no introduction.
The CPI(M) and the Congress were taken aback by the good work done by Mayor Rajesh and his team of councillors in cleaning up waste dumped along the thoroughfares and ring roads within the corporation limits. The Attukal Pongala, an exclusive festival for Hindu women that sees hundreds of thousands of devotees gathering in the capital city every year, stood out in 2026 because of the immaculate arrangements made by the corporation authorities under the leadership of the Mayor. This caused major heartburn within the CPI(M), which was waiting on the sidelines to pounce on the BJP.
Moreover, the social media message by Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulating the people of Thiruvananthapuram for electing the BJP shocked the Communists and the Congress alike. Neither party could digest the fact that a BJP Mayor would be present at Thiruvananthapuram Airport during the state visits of the President, the Vice President, and the Prime Minister.
The Congress and the CPI(M) have reportedly reached an agreement to dethrone the BJP from power in the corporation by July 10, 2026. Though there are six municipal corporations in the state, it is interesting to note that only the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation and its Mayor make headlines almost every day, and that too mostly for positive developments,” said E. N. Nanda Kumar, eminent author and political commentator.
Nothing is surprising in these developments, as both the Marxists and the Congress are determined to sabotage any possibility of the BJP emerging as a major force in Kerala. Once the BJP emerges as a viable alternative to these two parties, their political match-fixing will come to an end, and Kerala will witness a new phase in its development journey.
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2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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