V V Rajesh.
Credit: X/@surendranbjp
Thiruvananthapuram: BJP has decided to nominate party state secretary V V Rajesh as mayor for Thiruvananthapuram city, the first corporation that the saffron party won in the state.
Even as party state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar was learnt to be backing former DGP and first woman IPS officer from Kerala R Sreelekha as mayor, another section in the party, including former union minister V Muraleedharan, strongly batted for Rajesh. RSS was also learnt to have backed Rajesh.
Better political skills and experience seems to have worked in favour of Rajesh especially since the BJP did not have a clear majority in the council and many seasoned politicians are present in the opposition benches.
Sreelekha is likely to be given one of the most winnable seats of BJP in the coming Assembly election.
Young woman leader and third time councilor G S Asha Nath has been nominated as deputy mayor, which is a post reserved for women
The mayor and deputy mayor elections are scheduled to be held on Friday.
BJP state general secretary S Suresh made the announcements on Thursday after the party state president held talks with the party national leadership in Delhi.
Chandrasekhar was learnt to be holding discussions on the development plans to be rolled out in the state capital. Chandrasekhar had announced during the election campaign that if BJP comes to power in Thiruvananthapuram corporation Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself will come down to the state capital and roll out development plans for the city.
Making Thiruvananthapuram a venue of the Olympics was among BJP's assurances in the election manifesto.
Aged around 50, Rajesh has been an active face of the party in the state capital for more than a decade. He entered politics through ABVP and served as BJP Thiruvananthapuram district president. Rajesh was runner-up in Vattiyoorkavu Assembly seat in Thiruvananthapuram in the 2021 polls. A lawyer by profession, Rajesh earlier faced corruption and amassment of illegal wealth allegations.
Rajesh later told reporters that many elected members of the BJP, including Sreelekha, were eligible to become mayor. But the party entrusted the responsibility with him. As mayor he would take forward BJP's development agenda of the party, he said.
The BJP is only having 50 seats in the 101 member Thiruvananthapuram city corporation. The BJP may get the support of one independent candidate. The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front with 29 seats and the Congress-led United Democratic Front with 19 seats are also fielding candidates in the mayor election.
The selection of Rajesh is widely considered as a political setback for Chandrasekhar. Even as the BJP was making much hype over winning the Thiruvananthapuram corporation, the party's vote share across the state came down compared to the last general election.