Thiruvananthapuram, June 5(BPNS)
The BJP unit of Kerala which has always faced rebuttal in the elections has now reason to rejoice. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls- the results of which were declared yesterday , the BJP for the first time in its history won a Lok Sabha seat. Party candidate and Malayalam actor, Suresh Gopi won the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat by a whopping margin of 74,686 votes.
Suresh Gopi who was a former Member of Parliament (Nominated to RS by the BJP) had earlier contested in 2019 Lok Sabha polls and had garnered 2,93,822 votes but finished third behind the winning candidate, T.N. Prathapan of the Congress and the runner up Rajaji Mathew Thomas of the left front.
In the 2021 assembly elections also Suresh Gopi was fielded by the BJP, but could end up in the third place. CPI’s P. Balachandran won the seat with the Congress’s Padmaja Venugopal the runner up.
However even after back to back losses in 2019 and 2021, Suresh Gopi struck on to Thrissur and in this election won the seat by a huge margin.
The giant killer is likely to be accommodated in the Narendra Modi government.
Other than Thrissur, BJP came close second in Thiruvananthapuram where Union minister for skill development, Rajeev Chandrashekar lost by 16077 votes to senior Congress leader Sashi Tharoor who was seeking re-election for the fourth time from the same seat.
In Attingal Lok Sabha constituency, Union Minister of state for external affairs ,V. Muraleedharan garnered 3,11, 779 votes and was a close third. The Congress leader and sitting MP, Adoor Prakash won the seat by a margin of 684 votes against CPI-M district secretary and sitting MLA, V. Joy. Muraleedharan has increased the vote share by 59,000 votes from the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP’s percentage of votes increased from 24.97 % in 2019 to 31.64% in this election.
Alappuzha is a constituency considered as a ‘C’ class Lok Sabha seat according to the BJP’s internal assessment. However party state vice president, Shobha Surendran got 2,99, 648 votes, a significant increase from 2019 when party candidate and senior leader, K.S. Radhakrishnan received 1,87,729 votes.
Except for Idukki and Malappuram Lok Sabha seats, the BJP candidates collected more than 1 lakh votes in all the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state and the party got a 19 percent vote share.
On the basis of the performance of the BJP in the 2024 general elections, the party is ahead in 11 assembly seats and second in 7 assembly seats.
It may be recalled that BJP does not have a single MLA in the 140 assembly seats.
With the 2024 general elections showing an impressive performance by the BJP, the party will now have to put its act together for the 2026 assembly elections. The party can easily win a few seats if it identifies candidates for these 11 seats where it has come first as also in the 7 seats where it has come second and in some other seats. If the party shortlists 25 such seats and identifies candidates and prepares for the 2026 assembly elections, there can be a huge success and the politics of Kerala can be changed for the good of the saffron party.
Political analyst and researcher, Raju Thomas while speaking to this reporter said, “ The BJP has surprised everyone and if they prepare well in advance for the 2026 assembly elections, results will be different. The party can break the taboo and win a few seats thus altering the political landscape of Kerala.”
