Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 6 (IANS) The state capital district has emerged as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s strongest political base in Kerala, a reality underscored by its historic victory in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.

The party wrested control from the CPI(M)-led Left, which had maintained an uninterrupted hold over the civic body for over four decades.

Party strategists now see the district as central to its plans for the upcoming state Assembly elections.

In the 101-member corporation, the BJP won 50 seats, the Left secured 29, and the Congress-led UDF 20.

Two Independents were also elected, one of whom later backed the BJP, allowing it to cross the 51-seat majority mark and form the council.

For the party, the win is more than a municipal success — it validates years of organisational groundwork and shows that Kerala’s political terrain can be contested successfully.

The district has 14 Assembly constituencies.

The BJP has been steadily closing the gap. In 2011, it came second in only one constituency, by 2016, in two and in 2021, in four constituencies.

At the same time, the Congress won eight seats in 2011, dropped to four in 2016 and just one in 2021.

The trend suggests that, if voting patterns similar to the December local body polls repeat, the BJP could convert its growing influence in Thiruvananthapuram into multiple Assembly victories, mainly at the expense of the Congress.

State BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who challenged Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, has announced he will contest from Nemom, the constituency the party had won in 2016.

Other target seats include Kazhakootam, Vattiyoorkavu and Attingal, where the BJP finished second in 2021.

The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation triumph has given the BJP both momentum and confidence.

Party leaders now speak not just of opening an Assembly account but of breaking the longstanding dominance of the Left and the Congress in Kerala’s state capital district, signalling a possible shift in the state’s political calculus.

–IANS

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