Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: With growing footprint, BJP hopes to attain power in state

Thiruvananthapuram: Having reopened its account in Kerala by winning three seats and considerably increasing votes even in Christian strongholds, the BJP had a significant show in the Kerala assembly elections.

BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar won back the party's maiden assembly seat in Kerala - Nemom in Thiruvananthapuram, with a margin of 4,978 votes defeating CPM leader V Sivankutty.

BJP veteran leader O Rajagopal had won the Nemom seat in 2016 opening account for the saffron party in Kerala assembly. But the party failed to retain the seat in the 2021 election.

Former Union minister V Muraleedharan, who was runner-up at Kazhakoottam in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016, won the seat with a thin margin of 428, and defeated CPM leader Kadakampally Surendran.

Chathannoor in Kollam where the BJP has been consistently increasing vote share since 2016 also witnessed the lotus blooming. BJP local leader B B Gopakumar won with a margin of 4,398 votes.

Even as the Centre's move to amend the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act caused a major setback for the saffron party just ahead of the polling, BJP candidates like party general secretary Anoop Jacob and BJP vice president Shone George could considerably increase BJP's votes in Christian strongholds like Thiruvalla and Pala in central Kerala.

BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that even as the Congress and the CPM were stating that the BJP won't win any seat, the party could prove its growing influence in Kerala.

BJP camps are hopeful that winning three seats in Kerala in this election would mark the beginning of BJP's journey towards attaining power in Kerala as was witnessed in West Bengal.

But the saffron party faced an embarrassment as Union minister of state for minority affairs and Rajya Sabha member George Kurian could finish only in third place at Kanjirapally in Kottayam. Congress leader K Karunakaran's daughter Padmaja Venugopal, who contested as BJP candidate at Thrissur, also finished in third place even as the BJP had won the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat in 2024.

Even as the BJP was highly hopeful in at least 10 seats, many prominent leaders like Sobha Surendran and K Surendran could only finish as runner-up.