V.V. Rajesh: Saffron entry – The Hindu

Back in 2020, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was confident of capturing power at the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, ruled by the Left Democratic Front for around four decades. The confidence was built on their performance in the previous elections in 2015, when they increased their seats from a mere six to 35 in the 100-member council. To make clear their intent, the party had fielded V.V. Rajesh, one of its prominent faces in the State, and projected him as a possible Mayor candidate.

Though Mr. Rajesh won that election, the BJP failed to improve its standing, almost staying static at 34 seats. Five years later, the BJP finally came on top, winning 50 seats, just one short of the majority figure. It also became the first ever win in a Corporation in Kerala for the party.

The BJP campaign focused on the development of Thiruvananthapuram, offering to place a blueprint in just 45 days of assuming office, as announced by BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar during electioneering. Mr. Rajesh was just one among the many contenders for the Mayor’s post, most prominent among them being R. Sreelekha, former Director-General of Police, who joined the BJP in 2024.

Until a day before the mayoral election on December 26, Ms. Sreelekha was strongly tipped to take over. However, the scales tipped in favour of Mr. Rajesh at the last minute as a section of the BJP leadership stood firm for him, considering his long years of experience in building the party at the grassroots level in the district. Though Ms. Sreelekha made her displeasure public, especially by leaving the council hall in a huff soon after the swearing in, the ever-diplomatic Mr. Rajesh was quick to mollify her by visiting her at her residence.

Born in 1975 in Nedumangad, a suburban town in Thiruvananthapuram district, Mr. Rajesh began his political life as a student activist of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). By the time he completed his law studies, he had moved up to State- and national-level positions in the organisation. The natural progression was to the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the BJP’s youth organisation, of which he became the State President. Later, he became the Thiruvananthapuram district president and State secretary of the BJP.

Unsuccessful foray

Though his forays in the Assembly elections have been unsuccessful, he has improved the tally on all the three occasions he contested. In 2021, he came second with 28.77% votes in the Vattiyurkavu Assembly constituency, where he was placed third in 2011 with 11.98% votes. In Nedumangad in 2016, he managed to increase the BJP’s votes from 1,255 in the previous election to 35,139, though he ended up third.

Right from the early days, he has been an active presence in the BJP’s protests in the capital, especially the one against the Supreme Court verdict allowing the entry of women of menstruating age into Sabarimala. The BJP frequently deployed him for television debates. However, during his stint as a councillor in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation in the past five years, his continued absence from council meetings had even become a point of debate in the council. He has sat for only a handful of meetings, though the council meets twice every month.

The BJP has attempted to portray the victory in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation as a crucial opening to capturing power in Kerala in the upcoming Assembly election. However, the local body election results overall paint a bleaker picture for the party, which witnessed its vote share fall from 19.26% in 2020 to 14.76% now. It has also been unable to make any headway in the district panchayats, spread out over rural belts.

Considering this reality, the BJP’s central leadership is expected to push for projects worth showcasing in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. Soon after taking charge, Mr. Rajesh said the capital would be transformed into one of the three most developed cities of the country in the next five years.

The BJP is coming to power at a time when the capital’s developmental trajectory is primed to take off on the wings of the Vizhinjam port. The party’s growth will depend a lot on how Mr. Rajesh handles the powerful position he has just taken charge of.