At a time when all political parties in Kerala are busy getting ready for the two-phase local body polls, state BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday triggered an unexpected political turn after he announced that he would contest from the Nemom Assembly constituency in the 2026 Assembly elections.
His remark, made at the peak of the campaign for the December 9 and 11 two-phase local body polls, has instantly energised BJP cadres and sharpened political chatter across party lines.Responding to a pointed question from reporters, Chandrasekhar said he was “ready to take up the challenge of Nemom in 2026,” signalling the party’s intent to regain the seat it won for the first time in 2016.
Nemom is the first constituency where the BJP opened its account in the Kerala Assembly. In 2016, senior BJP leader O. Rajagopal defeated sitting CPI-M MLA V. Sivankutty, marking the party’s first-ever Assembly win in the State. However, in the 2021 election, despite the BJP fielding then State president Kummanam Rajasekharan, the LDF reclaimed the seat through Sivankutty, who went on to become the State General Education Minister.
Though the BJP has not formally announced candidates for the next Assembly election, his statement is being seen as an early and deliberate attempt to consolidate momentum as the party battles for relevance in the state’s bipolar political landscape. The BJP chief’s remarks came at a time when the party has been aggressively pushing its campaign narrative, accusing the CPI(M) and the state government of mishandling several issues.
Chandrasekhar at the 2024 Lok Sabha polls gave a fright to three-time sitting Congress MP Shashi Tharoor from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, when he led at times, only to go down by around 15,000 votes. Incidentally, it was his stiff fight that he put up that led to his being nominated to take over as the state party president early this year, much to the surprise of many seasoned home-bred party veterans of the BJP.