Will BJP open its account in Kerala in upcoming general elections?

Though the Narendra Modi government will come back to power with a thumping majority at the national level after the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, some of the crucial questions on the mind of most political observers are: (1) Will the BJP be able to open its account in Kerala this time? (2) Is Kerala proving to be an insurmountable Mount Meru for the BJP? (3) Will Kerala be able to contribute to the 400+ target that BJP is vying for in the upcoming elections? In this article, we shall try to answer these questions about the little green emerald of a state at the southern tip of the subcontinent as the heat of the elections competes with the soaring mercury levels.

In a strategic move, the BJP has announced two formidable contenders in key constituencies of Thrissur, renowned as the cultural capital of God’s Own Country, and in Thiruvananthapuram, which is its political epicentre. Suresh Gopi, a superstar in Malayalam cinema, is trying his luck in Thrissur for the third time, having contested in the Lok Sabha election of 2019 and the Legislative Assembly election of 2021, albeit unsuccessfully. Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, has emerged as a heavyweight contender against Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram. Rajeev is presently a Rajya Sabha member from Bengaluru and has never contested elections in Kerala. So, this is his maiden foray into the state's political arena.

While Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram are the two constituencies where the saffron party is hoping to win in the 2024 general elections, this time Attingal and Alappuzha are the other focus seats of the BJP in Kerala. The party has entrusted seasoned leaders V Muraleedharan in the Attingal constituency and Shobha Surendran in Alappuzha. The anti-incumbency factor is quite strong in Thrissur as TN Prathapan, the sitting Congress Party MP has been a non-entity in the district throughout his tenure. He was nowhere on the scene when local residents faced various problems like bad roads, scams in the cooperative banking sector, and inadequate housing facilities. It was Suresh Gopi, who came to the rescue of depositors after they lost money in some of these scams. He organized a massive protest march to draw the attention of the state government to the plight of hundreds of account holders who lost their life savings to unscrupulous fraudsters.

Suresh Gopi's commendable efforts extend beyond the banking sector crisis, earning him accolades from members of the Municipal Corporation for successfully securing funds for developmental projects, a feat that the incumbent MP has failed to emulate. Gopi’s reputation as a philanthropist and a man of unwavering integrity has solidified over time. His popularity now transcends traditional barriers of caste and religion, evident in his generous gesture of donating a gold-plated crown to the Lourde Matha Church in Thrissur at the time of his daughter's wedding in January this year. This act of generosity has garnered support from the Christian community, who have started actively campaigning for him. Though many mainstream media tried to drag him into fabricated controversies, the way Suresh Gopi came out unblemished and unscathed from all those issues, seems to indicate that the stars are smiling on the charismatic actor-turned-politician.

Here it is worth recalling that not a single BJP candidate has been elected from Kerala to the Lok Sabha to date. Meanwhile, Shashi Tharoor of the Congress is hailed as a Vishwa Pouran (a global citizen) – his excuse for being hardly ever seen in his constituency. However, this time, his neglect of local concerns may fuel anti-incumbency sentiments among the electorate and ignite discontent and resentment towards his tenure. On the other hand, the BJP enters the electoral fray armed with a portfolio of successfully implemented national highways and expediting infrastructure projects, including the ambitious Vizhinjam International Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport. Rajeev Chandrasekhar's candidacy holds promise as he articulates the electorate's grievances regarding the protracted delays in critical development schemes like Vizhinjam, which the successive Communist and Congress-led governments are accused of stalling for over three decades. Rajeev Chandrasekhar's ability to effectively communicate these issues could position him as a catalyst for progress and prosperity in the capital city, bolstering the electoral prospects of the BJP in the region.

Meanwhile, V Muraleedharan, who is contesting from Attingal, is currently the Minister of State for External Affairs. Since 2019, he has demonstrated exemplary performance by expediting the evacuation of Indian citizens, including Malayalees, stranded in various countries such as Ukraine, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Israel, and from other nations under the Vande Bharat Mission during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, Sobha Surendran, renowned for her fiery oratory skills, stands out as one of the prominent ‘Naari Shaktis’ fielded by the BJP in Kerala. However, her candidacy in the constituency of Alappuzha pits her against formidable opponents, including sitting Communist MP AM Ariff and the AICC general secretary and Rajya Sabha member KC Venugopal. As such, though the BJP candidates in Attingal and Allapuzha are likely to put up a stellar fight against their rivals and have a high probability of winning the seats, the final picture will become clear only when the election results are announced on June 4. However, based on current indications, we have concrete reasons to believe that Suresh Gopi and Rajeev Chandrasekhar will win in Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram, enabling the BJP to open its account in Kerala in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

By Dr. Sunil Kumar Gupta

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