Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, left, and party leader Prakash Javadekar during the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected local body members at the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
Credit: PTI Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: The swearing-in of councilors of Thiruvananthapuram corporation on Sunday witnessed BJP's show of strength for having attained majority in a corporation in Kerala for the first time.
Party senior leaders including Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar and state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar turned up to witness the historical moment, which caught national attention.
BJP workers celebrated the event by raising slogans throughout the swearing-in ceremony. The viral parody song 'Pottiye Kettiye' that links CPM with Sabarimala Ayyappa temple gold heist was even raised at some point of time by party workers to counter the sloganeering by the CPM workers. But senior BJP leaders swiftly intervened and asked workers to avoid the song.
The BJP councillors started the day's event by offering prayers at the Sree Padmanabhaswami temple and came to the corporation as a rally.
Even as there are only 50 councilors for the NDA-BJP in the 101 strong council, the saffron party hopes to have a smooth sail to the mayor post in the mayor election on December 26. CPM-led LDF with 29 members and Congress-led UDF with 19 members are unlikely to be part of any moves along with the two independents to scuttle BJP's chance of having the mayor as it could invite criticism of trying to sabotage democracy.
Former DGP R Sreelekha and district leader V V Rajesh are among the probable mayor candidates of the NDA.