BJP begins final round of intra-party consultations to finalise NDA’s mayoral candidate in Thiruvananthapuram

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Sunday (December 21, 2025) began the final round of intra-party discussions to select its mayoral candidate for the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. 

According to BJP insiders, former Director General of Police R. Sreelekha, advocate V.V. Rajesh and senior councillor Karamana Ajith are in the running for the post. 

Given that the Deputy Mayor’s post is reserved for a woman councillor, the BJP is reportedly weighing whether tapping Ms. Sreelekha for mayoralty might be an advantage or a political oddity. 

However, a BJP insider said a section of the leadership believed that having women as the Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Thiruvananthapuram might hog the national limelight and also further Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s women empowerment policy. 

He noted that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) had made headlines and appealed to Kerala’s sizeable youth demographic by nominating Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leader Arya Rajendran as the “world’s youngest Mayor” in the 2020 local body elections in Kerala.  

According to the BJP sources, the party also faces the difficulty of choosing between veteran grassroots-level party councillors with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) background and a ranking police officer for the Mayor’s post. 

National leadership

“The State leadership will likely prepare a panel of possible mayoral candidates and leave the final call to the BJP’s national leadership, given that Mr. Modi had spotlighted the Corporation elections as a significant win for the NDA. Moreover, the national leadership’s involvement in the crucial decision will negate any room for intra-party rancour over the mayoral choice,” he said. 

The BJP attached significant political import to its good showing in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation polls. The elections gave the BJP a clear lead in the Vattiyurkavu and Nemom constituencies. Hence, the party appeared loath to lose its electoral momentum in Thiruvananthapuram to intra-party dissensions. 

BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar told reporters that the NDA would announce its mayoral candidate on December 26. BJP’s Kerala in charge, Prakash Javadekar, said the win in Thiruvananthapuram would widen the NDA’s path to victory in the 2026 Assembly polls. 

Meanwhile, the ruling LDF and the United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition said they would function as a constructive opposition. 

CPI(M) district secretariat member and councillor representing Pettah ward S.P. Deepak condemned the BJP for “bringing Hindutva into the council hall” by allowing NDA supporters to render an RSS anthem (Gana Geetham) in the hall.