Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to launch the Bharatiya Janata Party's Assembly election campaign in Kerala with a high-profile roadshow in Thiruvananthapuram on January 23. The BJKP's top leadership has accorded top priority to its poll performance in Kerala and its recent win in the Thiruvananthapuram local body election has boosted the party's confidence in a state it has long struggled to crack.
Modi's visit comes weeks after the BJP registered a breakthrough by winning the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, ending the CPI(M)'s 45-year hold over the civic body and giving the party its first mayor in Kerala. During his visit, the Prime Minister will also unveil the party's blueprint for "Vikasita Thiruvananthapuram", a development roadmap promised during the local body polls.
The roadshow will culminate in a public meeting of around 25,000 party workers, followed by an official function where Modi is expected to flag off new train services linked to Kerala. The BJP will then hold a separate political event, marking the formal beginning of its campaign for the Assembly elections due later this year.
BJP state general secretary S Suresh said the Prime Minister's visit fulfils a commitment made by the party leadership during the civic polls. "We promised that if the BJP won Thiruvananthapuram, the Prime Minister would come within 45 days to outline the city's development plan. Modi is coming on the 27th day of the BJP taking charge," he told The Indian Express.
For the BJP, Kerala represents both an electoral and ideological frontier. It is one of the few large states where the party has never formed a government, and a victory here would complete the party's expansion into every region of the country. The state also holds symbolic value for the BJP's larger project of breaking the Left's last major bastion in India.
The party's vote share in Kerala has risen steadily over the past decade. From 11 per cent in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP's vote share increased to around 16 per cent in 2019 and crossed 20 per cent in the 2024 parliamentary polls. In the 2021 Assembly elections, the BJP-led NDA polled nearly 12 per cent of the vote and finished second in several constituencies, particularly in Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta and parts of central Kerala.
The local body elections further strengthened the party's narrative of growth as BJP candidates won two municipalities, 30 village panchayats and emerged as the second-largest party in dozens of local bodies.
Modi's visit follows one by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Thiruvananthapuram earlier this month, where he addressed newly elected BJP local body members and unveiled the party's three-point election agenda of "Viswasa (faith), Surakshitha (security) and Vikasita (development) Keralam".
The BJP has also sharpened its focus on faith-related issues, particularly the alleged theft of gold from the Sabarimala temple. The party has demanded a CBI probe and accused both the ruling CPI(M) and the Opposition Congress of failing to protect religious institutions. On Tuesday, BJP workers marched to the residence of senior CPI(M) leader Kadakampally Surendran, who served as Devaswom minister during the previous LDF regime.
The party has also accused both the Left and the Congress of appeasement politics and alleged links with groups such as Jamaat-e-Islami and the SDPI, charges both parties have denied.
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