Kerala Assembly Elections 2026 | BJP's Surendran eyes breakthrough in Manjeshwar after string of near misses

Kasaragod (Kerala): Emerging as a Yuva Morcha leader nearly two decades ago in Kerala’s rough-and-tumble political landscape--long dominated by the CPI(M) and the Congress--former BJP chief K Surendran is one of the heavyweight candidates in the April 9 polls, but has 242 criminal cases pending against him.

Most of the cases against him stem from the fiery protests he led against the Left government's decision to implement the Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all age groups to enter the revered Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in 2018.

As his party has not had much electoral success in Kerala, despite being active in state politics since the Jan Sangh days, Surendran narrowly lost the Manjeshwar Assembly seat by just 89 votes in the 2016 Assembly elections.

He tried again in 2021, but lost the seat in northernmost Kerala by 740 votes. Surendran also contested from the Konni constituency in 2021, but lost there as well.

This time, the firebrand saffron party leader is seeking a mandate from Manjeshwar, a border constituency in Kasaragod, again, and his camp is confident of breaking through.

His main rival is Congress-led UDF candidate and Indian Union Muslim League leader A K M Ashraf, who defeated him in 2021. Ashraf said the BJP leader's wish would not be realised this time either.

"We are going to win it 110 per cent this time," a confident-looking Surendran told PTI Videos.

He cited the reason, saying that there is strong resentment against the state government and the present MLA, who has not done anything for the constituency.

"The bad government in Kerala has been blocking people from getting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's welfare schemes for the people," the BJP leader claimed.

Surendran, who led the party from the front in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which saw actor-turned BJP leader Suresh Gopi win the Thrissur parliamentary seat, claimed that neither the LDF nor the UDF would secure an absolute majority.

"The BJP is going to be the force that will decide the fate of Kerala," Surendran said.

He, however, refused to claim the number of seats NDA could win in the Assembly elections.

Surendran dismissed the allegations that he did not want to contest in Manjeshwar this time and demanded Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram. "Those were all media speculation," he said.

The BJP candidate claimed that the development lag in the constituency is going to be the major campaign topic.

Hitting back at Surendran, Ashraf said the BJP leader should visit the constituency not just once in five years, but regularly in between, to understand the development that has taken place in Manjeshwar.

"If he has the time, I can take him around and show him," Ashraf told PTI Videos.

He said the BJP candidate is merely a visitor and does not know what is happening in the constituency.

"The fight here is between the BJP and the UDF, and Surendran should understand that this is not 2016 or 2021, but 2026, where the UDF has moved miles ahead," Ashraf said.

He said the UDF registered a spectacular victory in the recently concluded local body elections and is now governing eight panchayats in the constituency.

Ashraf claimed that the LDF also has little presence in the constituency, though it had won Manjeshwar in 2006.

"In 2006, the UDF had many local issues and finished third. But the situation has changed considerably since then. Now, Team UDF is all set," he said.

The CPI(M) has fielded K R Jayananda, a Kasaragod district secretariat member of the party, in a bid to repeat its 2006 victory.

"I was born and brought up here, and I can tell you that people have now decided to vote for the development brought in by the LDF government. The situation is similar to that of 2006," Jayananda told PTI Videos.

He said Surendran is locally known as a "migratory bird" who comes to the constituency only during election season and leaves once it is over.

"The only advantage for Surendran in Manjeshwar is that there is no need to paint new wall graffiti, as he has been contesting here for the third consecutive time," Jayananda said.

He said the people of Manjeshwar will never forget the hardship caused during the Covid period, when the then BJP government in Karnataka closed all 29 border points between Karnataka and Kerala.

"The people of Manjeshwar have a very close connection with Mangaluru in Karnataka. It is our primary centre for education and healthcare. But the BJP government closed the borders despite our repeated demands during Covid," Jayananda said.

He said even those who once supported the IUML are now shifting their loyalty to the LDF, as they are disillusioned with the religion-based politics of both the UDF and the BJP.