BJP workers celebrate their victory during the Kerala local body polls, at a counting station in Thiruvananthapuram on December 13, 2025. Photo: PTI
Kerala local body polls: BJP ends LDF's 45-year rule in Thiruvananthapuram; Modi reacts
The prime minister said the people of the state were fed up with both LDF and UDF as the saffron party wins 50 of 101 seats in Kerala capital's civic body
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had a reason to smile ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala as it wrested the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation from the state’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the Communist Party of India or CPI(M) in the recently held local body elections.
Also read: Cong-led UDF sweeps Kerala LSG polls; BJP captures Thiruvananthapuram
It also marked an end to the Left’s continuous rule in the local body for 45 years.
Modi slams LDF, UDF; thanks Kerala people
An ecstatic Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the people of Kerala in a post on X written in Malayalam and said the state is “fed up” with both the LDF and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
സംസ്ഥാനത്തെ തദ്ദേശത്തെരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പിൽ ബിജെപി-എൻഡിഎ സ്ഥാനാർഥികൾക്കു വോട്ടുചെയ്ത കേരളത്തിലുടനീളമുള്ള ജനങ്ങളെ എന്റെ നന്ദി അറിയിക്കുന്നു. യുഡിഎഫിനെയും എൽഡിഎഫിനെയും കൊണ്ട് സഹികെട്ടിരിക്കുകയാണു കേരളം. മികച്ച ഭരണം കാഴ്ചവയ്ക്കാനും ഏവർക്കും അവസരങ്ങളുള്ള വികസിത കേരളം #VikasitaKeralam…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 13, 2025
In another post, he said, “Thank you, Thiruvananthapuram! The verdict in favor of BJP-NDA in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is a decisive moment in Kerala politics. The people are assured that only our party can fulfill the state's development dreams. Our party will work for the growth of this vibrant city and for improving the quality of life of the people.” He also saluted the BJP activists for producing such a result.
BJP's Thiruvananthapuram story
The BJP has captured the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation in Kerala's recent local self-government elections
Between 2014 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the saffron party ended second in Thiruvananthapuram seat
In 2016 Kerala state polls, the BJP won its only seat in Nemom, which falls under Thiruvananthapuram LS constituency
BJP falls one sort of majority
Of the 101 wards in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation that administers the state capital, the BJP won 50 seats. The LDF won 29, followed by the UDF, which won 19. Two seats were won by Independent candidates. The saffron party needed only one seat to secure a decisive majority in the civic body.
സംസ്ഥാനത്തെ തദ്ദേശത്തെരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പിൽ ബിജെപി-എൻഡിഎ സ്ഥാനാർഥികൾക്കു വോട്ടുചെയ്ത കേരളത്തിലുടനീളമുള്ള ജനങ്ങളെ എന്റെ നന്ദി അറിയിക്കുന്നു. യുഡിഎഫിനെയും എൽഡിഎഫിനെയും കൊണ്ട് സഹികെട്ടിരിക്കുകയാണു കേരളം. മികച്ച ഭരണം കാഴ്ചവയ്ക്കാനും ഏവർക്കും അവസരങ്ങളുള്ള വികസിത കേരളം #VikasitaKeralam…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 13, 2025
The BJP, which is yet to make serious inroads in Kerala’s electoral politics, has been making some mark in Thiruvananthapuram over the past elections. In the three Lok Sabha elections between 2014 and 2024, the BJP finished second in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency, losing each time to the sitting MP, Shashi Tharoor, of the Congress. In the 2024 general polls, the BJP’s only seat in Kerala came in Thrissur, where Suresh Gopi won.
Also read: Kerala local body polls: Northern districts vote amid shifts in minority alignments
In the 2016 Assembly elections, the saffron party won its only seat, Nemom, which falls under Thiruvananthapuram. It was won back by the Left in 2021.
Saffron party does well in other areas
The BJP’s victory in Thiruvananthapuram will boost its confidence ahead of the next Assembly polls due in a few months. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance also retained the Palakkad municipality after a close battle with the UDF and wrested the Thrippunithura Municipality from the Congress.
In Thrissur, the BJP won 18 out of the 46 wards in Kodungallur Municipality, eight in Thrissur Corporation, two each in Guruvayoor and Vadakkancherry municipalities, seven in Kunnamkulam Municipality, six in Irinjalakuda Municipality and one in Chalakudy Municipality.
Also read: Congress in Kerala distances itself from UDF convenor's 'Dileep got justice' remark
It won four wards in the block panchayats and 167 in the grama panchayats, but none in the district panchayat in Thrissur district.
The BJP-led front won 1,085 grama panchayat wards and 44 block panchayat wards in Kerala, according to the State Election Commission (SEC) figures published at 2.30 pm on Saturday (December 13).
These also include 11 wards in the Kollam Corporation, 13 in Kozhikode Corporation, four in Kannur Corporation and six in Kochi Corporation, coming third in these local bodies.
In the fight for the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, the BJP campaign highlighting the alleged corruption during the tenure of the LDF appears to have worked for the NDA.
The Sabarimala gold loss-related campaign of the BJP helped it to win 142 grama panchayat wards, six block panchayat wards and 21 municipality wards in Pathanamthitta district, where the Lord Ayyappa shrine is located.
The saffron party won nine wards, including Pandalam Town and Pandalam Town West, under the Pandalam Municipality and three wards in the Pandalam block panchayat in Pathanamthitta district.
Overall, the LDF’s long-held dominance was dented in the two-phase local polls as the UDF emerged as the clear winner. It would raise serious questions within the Pinarayi Vijayan government, which is looking to win its third consecutive mandate in 2026.
(With Agency inputs)