 Summary of this article
- The BJP has won just one assembly seat in Kerala’s history
- The party is focusing on the Thiruvananthapuram district, where at least three constituencies are witnessing closely fought three-cornered contests.
- Manjeswaram and Palakkad are the other constituencies where the BJP hopes to pull off an upset.
With just two days to go for assembly polls, the stakes in Kerala have risen sharply, and the electoral picture is growing increasingly complex and unpredictable. The three fronts—the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)—are pulling out all stops in the final stretch of campaigning, leaving little to chance.
For the Left and the Congress, this election is essentially a battle for survival and relevance. For the NDA, however, it is a fight for political legitimacy and pride. Failure to secure even a couple of seats would further underscore the BJP’s long-standing struggle to breach what is often described as the country’s “secular citadel.”
The BJP, for its part, began preparations early, identifying select constituencies as priority “A-class” seats and deploying a high-intensity, almost blitzkrieg-style campaign. From the Karnataka-bordering Manjeswaram to the southern stronghold of Nemom, the party is projecting confidence and investing significant resources.
Yet, as the campaign comes to a close, the key question remains: can the BJP finally break the jinx in a state where both the Left and the UDF have consistently resisted ceding space to a third force?
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Despite an early organisational presence of the RSS and a relatively strong cadre base, the BJP has struggled to make significant electoral inroads in Kerala. So far, it has won only one Assembly seat and one Lok Sabha seat. The Assembly victory, secured in 2016, was lost to the CPI(M) in 2021. Its maiden Lok Sabha win came only in 2024, when actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi won from Thrissur.
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BY Priyanka Tupe |
