‘Upbeat’ BJP in Kerala sets eyes on local body and Assembly polls

Kochi; The Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is on a high after a stunning victory by Suresh Gopi — a Union Minister — from the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat on Saturday discussed strategies to taste more success in the upcoming local body and Assembly polls.

In the meeting on Saturday, the party set its eyes on 52 of the 140 Assembly constituencies in the state.

Union Health Minister and BJP president J.P. Nadda will be holding a brainstorming session with the Kerala unit BJP leaders to chalk out an effective strategy.

The local body poll is scheduled for 2025 and the Assembly polls the year after that.

Suresh Gopi’s victory came after the entire top brass of the BJP’s rivals — the ruling CPI-M-led Left Front, and the Congress-led UDF — predicted a poor showing for the party.

However, not only did the BJP win one seat, the silver lining was the 19.24 per cent vote share that the party got in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, up from 15.64 per cent compared to the 2019 general elections.

Meanwhile, compared to the 12.36 per cent votes the BJP got in the 2021 Assembly polls, the fresh electoral gains are impressive.

The meeting on Saturday also decided to come out with the “best candidate” for the soon-to-be announced dates for Assembly by-elections to two constituencies in Palakkad and Chelakkara.

The bypolls are due after two sitting legislators resigned after winning Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP has high hopes from the Palakkad seat, as in the 2021 Assembly polls, ‘Metro Man’ E. Sreedharan gave a close fight to Shafi Parambil, who has now resigned. Sreedharan, however, eventually lost to Parambil by around 3,000 votes.