BJP’s Kerala Gains Limited Despite Thiruvananthapuram Win, Christian Outreach Yet to Deliver Big Shift

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hailed its victory in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation as a major milestone in Kerala, but the results of the recently concluded local body elections suggest that the party’s broader electoral footprint in the state remains largely unchanged.

Despite securing control of Thiruvananthapuram—its biggest urban breakthrough so far—and winning its first-ever Lok Sabha seat from Kerala in 2024, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has failed to significantly expand its vote base, particularly among Christians, a community the party has actively courted in recent years.

Local Body Polls Show Modest Gains

In the local body elections held ahead of the next Assembly polls, the NDA won 26 village panchayats, up from seven in 2020, and secured control of three urban local bodies—Palakkad municipality, Tripunithura municipality in Ernakulam district, and the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.

However, the alliance also lost Pandalam municipality to the Left Democratic Front (LDF). Overall, the NDA won 1,447 of Kerala’s 17,337 wards, a marginal improvement that has not translated into a decisive political shift.

The NDA’s vote share stood at around 16 percent, nearly unchanged from its 15.64 percent share in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and only modestly higher than the 12.41 percent it secured in the 2021 Assembly polls.

Christian Outreach Falls Short

Senior BJP leaders in Kerala privately acknowledge that the party’s outreach to the Christian community has yet to yield significant electoral dividends. A state committee member said that while the Thiruvananthapuram win was symbolically important, it did not reflect a broader consolidation of Christian support.

According to the leader, internal challenges, including resistance from sections of the Catholic Church and controversies involving BJP leader P.C. George, have complicated outreach efforts. Reports of attacks on Christian clergy in other states and conflicting positions taken by BJP units on sensitive issues have further hampered the party’s messaging.

Mixed Results in Key Districts

In Thrissur district—where BJP leader Suresh Gopi won the party’s maiden Lok Sabha seat—the NDA managed to secure only one village panchayat, while the LDF and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) dominated local bodies across the district.

Similarly, in Ernakulam district, the NDA won just one municipality and failed to secure any village or block panchayats. In Kottayam, a major Christian belt, the alliance won only three of 71 village panchayats and drew a blank in urban and block-level bodies.

Party Sees Long-Term Organisational Gains

BJP leaders maintain that progress should be measured beyond immediate electoral wins. Shone George, a key figure in the party’s Christian outreach, said the BJP had succeeded in building grassroots leadership by fielding thousands of Christian candidates in local elections.

According to him, while many of these candidates are first-time entrants, the effort has helped establish Christian representation within the party’s organisational structure—an investment that may take time to translate into electoral victories.

Road Ahead

With Assembly elections approaching, the BJP faces the challenge of converting symbolic wins into sustained political expansion. While its urban breakthrough in Thiruvananthapuram and organisational push among Christians signal intent, the local body results suggest that Kerala’s entrenched bipolar political structure remains largely intact for now.