'Like Gujarat in 1987': Why Modi invoked past to pitch change 'long overdue' in Kerala

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a public rally in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on Friday. (PTI)

• PM Modi launches BJP's Kerala Assembly poll campaign in Thiruvananthapuram
• BJP ended CPI(M)'s 45-year hold on Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation
• Modi promises change, better infrastructure, and justice in Sabarimala gold case

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday made a strong pitch for change in his address to a packed rally in Kerala's Thgiruvananthapuram. The Prime Minister's visit to the city is being seen as the launch of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Assembly election campaign in Kerala, a state where the party has portrayed a renewed optimism despite never having formed its government in the state.

Modi's visit came 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.

"Your energy gives me confidence that Kerala will definitely witness Parivartan," he said, adding that Thiruvananthapuram symbolised the aspirations of a new and evolving Kerala and termed the BJP's victory in the recent Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation an "extraordinary" feat.

"BJP’s victory here is a victory of the resolve to defeat the corruption of both LDF and UDF," Modi said, adding that residents of the capital city as he expressed his gratitude to the people for giving the party an opportunity to serve them.

During his address to the 25,000-odd gathering, the Prime Minister accused the LDF and UDF of neglecting Thiruvananthapuram and depriving the city of basic facilities and infrastructure. "The Left and the Congress have consistently failed to address the needs of our people.

"To the people of this city, I say: have faith -- the change that has been long overdue is finally on its way," PM Modi said, promising full support to make Thiruvananthapuram one of the best cities in India.

Appealing to the people of the state to place their trust in the BJP to bring about the desired change, the Prime Minister cited an example from four decades ago to portray how the BJP's growth story in his home state of Gujarat also began similarly.

"The Left-leaning groups present here may not view me favourably. However, allow me to present the facts. Before 1987, the BJP was a marginal party in Gujarat. In 1987, for the first time, the BJP won control of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation much like the party's recent victory in Thiruvananthapuram. Since then, the people of Gujarat have entrusted us with opportunities to serve, and we have continued to do so for decades," the Prime Minister said.

"Our journey began in one city in Gujarat, and similarly, in Kerala, our beginnings have started with a single city. I believe this demonstrates that the people of Kerala are beginning to place their trust in the BJP, connecting with us in the same way Gujarat once did."

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 secured its first Lok Sabha seat from Kerala only in 2024, when actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi won the Thrissur constituency. The BJP has also had just one MLA in the state's history.

However, 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 Friday, PM Modi said that reports of gold theft from the shrine, including from the sanctum sanctorum, had shaken public faith and promised to bring the culprits of the Sabarimala temple gold theft case to justice if the BJP formed a government in the state. "This is Modi's guarantee," he said.