BJP Gets First-Ever Mayor in Kerala as V V Rajesh Elected Thiruvananthapuram Mayor
The party had emerged strongly in the local body polls by winning 50 of the 101 wards in the state capital's civic body.
BJP Gets First-Ever Mayor in Kerala as V V Rajesh Elected Thiruvananthapuram Mayor
On Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party won its first ever mayoral post in Kerala, with BJP leader V V Rajesh being elected as the mayor of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. The party had emerged strongly in the local body polls by winning 50 of the 101 wards in the state capital’s civic body.
Rajesh secured 51 votes, including support from an Independent councillor, enabling him to cross the simple majority mark. His main contestants were P. Sivaji of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), who secured 29 votes, and K.S. Sabarinathan of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), who got 19 votes, though two of those were later declared invalid.
Senior BJP leaders, including state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, were present at the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation office to witness Rajesh’s election as mayor. Former Union minister V. Muraleedharan and ex-BJP state president K. Surendran were also present.
The victory ends nearly four decades of Left Democratic Front control in the Thiruvananthapuram civic body and is a historic milestone for the BJP in urban Kerala.
Source: The Tribune