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BJP names V V Rajesh Thiruvananthapuram Mayor candidate after thumping win ends Left rule

Party leaders had earlier considered retired DGP R Sreelekha for the post, but a section of the party opposed her candidature.

2 min readUpdated: Dec 25, 2025 07:25 PM IST

V V Rajesh named BJP’s Mayor candidate. (Source: Facebook/Adv.VV. Rajesh)

The BJP Thursday named former district president V V Rajesh its Mayoral candidate of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, days after the party secured control of the civic body for the first time. Councillor Asha Nath will be the party’s nominee for Deputy Mayor.

State general secretary S Suresh announced the decision at a meeting of newly elected BJP councillors and district leaders in Thiruvananthapuram. Party leaders had earlier considered retired DGP R Sreelekha for the post, but a section of the party opposed her candidature. The state and district leadership held multiple rounds of discussions before finalising the mayoral candidate.

The party clinched 50 seats in the corporation, ending four decades of Left control. The Congress-led UDF also improved its tally, doubling its seat count.

‘Seeking guidance’

Ahead of the announcement, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on X that he met party national president J P Nadda and national working president Nitin Nabin to seek guidance on organisational matters concerning the Kerala unit.

Met with BJP National President @JPNadda ji and National Working President @NitinNabin ji to discuss and get their counsel on @BJP4Keralam organizational issues.

On behalf of every karyakarta, I thank them for their support pic.twitter.com/9ZE5zpaHfE

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@RajeevRC_X) December 25, 2025