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Kerala Elections
BJP leader V V Rajesh was elected mayor of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation on Friday after the saffron party won 50 of the 101 wards, marking its first-ever victory in a municipal corporation in Kerala. In the mayoral election on Friday, Rajesh secured 51 votes, including the support of an Independent councillor. P Sivaji of the LDF received 29 votes, while UDF candidate K S Sabarinathan secured 19 votes, of which two were later declared invalid. Senior BJP leaders, including state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, were present at the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation office to witness Rajesh being elected mayor of the state capital. Former Union minister V Muraleedharan and former BJP state president K Surendran were also present. Rajesh later took the oath as the mayor of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. The BJP wrested control of the Corporation after nearly four decades of LDF rule. In Kollam Corporation, UDF's A K Hafeez was elected mayor, while in Kochi Corporation, UDF counc
Key constituents of Keralas's ruling Left, the CPI(M) and CPI on Monday acknowledged the need for a possible course-correction in their parties following the poor show in the just concluded civic polls, where their traditional rival Congress led its alliance to a decisive win while the BJP made surprising and significant inroads. The two Left parties held top-level review meetings here on Monday to assess the flaws in their election strategy and the incumbent LDF government's policies. The poll results had come as a shocker to the ruling dispensation months ahead of the 2026 general elections, where it is fancying a third term in a row since 2016. LDF convener and CPI(M) leader T P Ramakrishnan said the reasons behind the public response to the Left Front in the elections would be examined. "If there have been mistakes on our part, they will be corrected. Public opinion will be sought," he said. He acknowledged that the BJP had gained votes in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, w
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that it was more important for the BJP to ensure that its state office here becomes the centre of 'Vikasit Keralam' than having a Chief Minister in the government. Shah made the statement while addressing a massive gathering of party activists and supporters at a ward-level leadership meeting at Putharikandam Maidan here after inaugurating the new BJP state committee office. Shah also launched the logo and motto of the party's 'Vikasit Keralam' mission. He said that the route to 'Vikasit Bharat' goes through 'Vikasit Keralam' only. "Therefore, from now on, the basic aim of the BJP will be a 'Vikasit Keralam'," he said. Shah inaugurated the new BJP state committee office, Mararji Bhavan, here ahead of launching the party's campaign for the upcoming local body polls this year and the assembly elections next year. The Union Home Minister, who arrived in Kerala late Friday night, also paid floral tributes to a bronze half-bust of late fo
BJP leader and former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar is likely to become the state president of the saffron party, as he is the sole nominee for the post, party sources said. A formal announcement will be made following the party's state council meeting on Monday. BJP's central observer Prahlad Joshi is expected to officially declare his appointment on Monday, sources added. On Sunday, Chandrasekhar filed two sets of nomination papers for the position at the BJP headquarters in the state capital. Present on the occasion were state president K Surendran and senior BJP leaders Kummanam Rajasekharan, V Muraleedharan, PK Krishnadas, MT Ramesh, along with Union Ministers Suresh Gopi and George Kurian. At 60, Chandrasekhar brings two decades of political experience to the role. He has served as a Union Minister of State for the departments of Electronics and IT, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Jal Shakti. He served as Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka for three terms and a
The Palakkad assembly constituency, which saw a high octane campaign that gave rise to scores of controversies, saw a voter turnout of 70.01 per cent till 6.49 pm on Wednesday after voting in the bypoll concluded in over 86 per cent of the polling booths. This was a decline from the 73.83 per cent turnout recorded in the assembly polls held in the state in 2021. When polling started at 7 am, it proceeded slowly with a low turnout of only 1.11 per cent at 8 am, according to figures released by the Election Commission (EC). By noon, five hours after voting commenced, the turnout reached 30.48 per cent. It took another three hours after that for the turnout to cross the 50 per cent mark. At 6.49 pm, the turnout reached 70.01 per cent after voting concluded in 159 of the 184 polling booths in the constituency, the EC said. It said that this was not the final figure as in the remaining booths, people were waiting in line to cast their votes. There were long queues outside many booths
The Election Commission on Monday rescheduled assembly bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Kerala from November 13 to November 20 in view of festivals, an official statement said. Nine seats are going to polls in Uttar Pradesh, four in Punjab and one in Kerala. Parties including Congress, BJP, BSP and RLD had urged the poll body to reschedule the polls in view of various festivals, saying that it could impact voter turnout. According to the Congress, a significant portion of the electorate in the Palakkad assembly seat in Kerala will celebrate the festival of Kalpathi Rastholsavam from November 13 to 15. In Punjab, the party had said, the 555th Prakash Parv of Sri Guru Nanak Dev will be celebrated on November 15 and an 'akhand path' will be organised from November 13 onwards. BJP, BSP and RLD had said that in Uttar Pradesh, people travel for three-four days ahead of Kartik Purnima, which will be celebrated on November 15.
Kicking off her second phase of campaigning, Congress candidate for the Wayanad by-election, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, on Monday launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led Centre, alleging that the values of the Constitution are constantly being subverted under its rule. Addressing a corner meeting organised in Meenangadi in this hill district, the AICC general secretary referred to the violence in Manipur and alleged that "planned" attacks are taking place against minorities in the country. "You know the BJP government at the Centre is spreading fear, anger and distress among the community. You have seen the attack on minorities. You have seen the attacks in Manipur. You have seen again and again anger, spread of hatred and fear concerted in a planned fashion," she alleged. Priyanka also alleged that policy after policy is made to favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi's friends rather than the common people. "There is no compassion towards the farmers who are toiling day and night. Ther
The Left government in Kerala has achieved a record revenue increase from Rs 47,000 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 77,000 crore in 2023-24, helping to mitigate financial challenges posed by the BJP-ruled Centre, according to state Finance Minister K N Balagopal. "We've managed a record increase in the state's own revenue even as the Centre financially squeezes us. The state's own tax revenue rose from Rs 47,000 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 77,000 crore in 2023-24," Balagopal said. He pointed out that this represents a 60 per cent increase in the state's own tax revenue over just three years. "Without this increase, Kerala's economy would have collapsed due to the central government's anti-state policies." The minister also noted that the state government is doing everything it can to handle the crisis caused by the Centre's reduction in tax allocations and debt limits. Balagopal, who is also a senior CPI(M) leader, said that Kerala successfully brought national attention to the Centre's alleged
A day after polling concluded for the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the Congress on Saturday alleged that voters were harassed and the election machinery was hijacked by the ruling CPI(M) in the state with an aim to bring down the turnout percentage. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said the alleged hijacking of the election machinery by the ruling CPI(M) was one of the reasons for the decrease in polling percentage this year as compared to the turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Despite heightened political fervour and anticipation about the general elections for the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the process concluded with a notable decrease in voter turnout, as the figure stood at 70.22 per cent at 8pm yesterday. This figure, while significant, was quite a drop from the polling percentage of 77.84 per cent registered in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Venugopal claimed that there were glitches in electronic voting machines (EVMs) in three to five per cent of the polling booths in
Polling in all the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala for the 2024 general election commenced at 7am on Friday amidst tight security arrangements with the state witnessing 5.62 per cent turnout after the first hour of voting. People queued up since early morning outside the over 25,000 polling booths in the state to avoid the hot weather that was likely as the day progressed. Long queues of voters were seen outside polling booths in all Lok Sabha seats in the state. As the polling commenced, there were reports of EVM breakdowns in various booths across the state, delaying the election process in those places. However, the machines were replaced and the voting continued smoothly. Polling was carried out amidst tight security arrangements which included deployment of over 66,000 security personnel and live monitoring of the election process by an extensive webcasting system. Voting began after a mock poll was carried out by casting votes in favour of all candidates, including NOTA, whose