BJP’s Kerala Meltdown: With Polls Just Days Away, Power-Hungry Migrants and Arrogant Leadership Are Gutting the Party from Inside
By Nanditha Subhadra
As Kerala braces for the crucial Assembly elections on April 9, 2026, the traditional UDF-LDF binary continues to dominate the political landscape. Voters disillusioned with decades of dynastic corruption, ideological extremism, and governance failures have long awaited a credible third alternative. The BJP, riding on its modest Lok Sabha gains and local body footholds, positioned itself to disrupt this duopoly by appealing to the growing middle-class frustration. Yet, with polling mere days away, the party finds itself in a self-engineered crisis. A toxic blend of top-level arrogance, elitist disdain, and blatant cronyism toward high-profile defectors has turned potential into peril. Instead of consolidating anti-front votes, the saffron unit is actively alienating its own base and handing rivals easy ammunition.
The public face of this dysfunction remains unmistakable. Union Minister Suresh Gopi, once celebrated as the party’s breakthrough in Thrissur, has increasingly become a symbol of entitlement rather than empathy. His recent outbursts—ranging from controversial remarks about “cadavers” voting in past elections to brushing off voter concerns on issues like the Karuvannur bank scam—have drawn sharp criticism. Even as he alleges “mischief” in LPG supply ahead of polls, many constituents describe him as distant and rude, eroding the soft corner he once enjoyed among film-loving audiences and neutral observers alike. Such film-star haughtiness sits poorly in Kerala’s grounded political culture and risks driving away the very swing voters the BJP needs on April 9.
State BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar has only intensified the damage. His sharp exchanges with the media and dismissive approach to controversies have reinforced perceptions of elitism. Whether challenging opponents on asset allegations or earlier hostile interactions with journalists, Chandrasekhar’s style projects a leadership that views public scrutiny as an irritant rather than a democratic necessity. In the heat of the election campaign, these episodes amplify the narrative that the party’s top brass remains out of touch with ordinary Keralites.
But the most corrosive internal threat—now playing out openly as tickets are finalised—is the party’s obsessive favouritism toward power-hungry migrants at the direct expense of loyal, grassroots workers. The case of former DGP R. Sreelekha stands as the starkest example. Kerala’s first woman IPS officer joined the BJP in late 2024 with minimal prior organisational involvement or history of facing LDF-UDF onslaughts. She quickly secured a councillor seat in Sasthamangalam (which she won in the 2025 local polls) and has now been fielded as the party’s candidate from the prestigious Vattiyoorkavu assembly constituency in the first list of 47 candidates released in March 2026. Reports suggest she was even eyeing the Thiruvananthapuram mayor post before it went elsewhere. This rapid elevation sends a devastating message: decades of dedicated service—booth-level organising, enduring police cases, and building the party through lean years—count for little. What truly matters is the headline value and bureaucratic glamour of a fresh defector chasing power and position.
This migrant-first culture has bred deep, simmering discontent among long-time party workers and sympathisers. Cadres who sacrificed years in the trenches now watch in frustration as the organisation transforms into a convenient launchpad for retired officials and rejected politicians from other fronts. The result is demoralisation, quiet resentment, and a growing perception that loyalty is irrelevant while opportunism is rewarded. This internal betrayal compounds other questionable moves: alliances with controversial figures and outfits, inductions like P.C. George and family, and the overshadowing of respected homegrown leaders such as Kummanam Rajasekharan and Sobha Surendran.
With the April 9 polls fast approaching, Kerala’s electorate was primed for a disciplined right-of-centre force promising development, clean governance, and relief from the two-front stranglehold. Instead, the BJP risks presenting an image of opportunism, internal chaos, and elitist contempt. Unless the central leadership intervenes immediately to restore primacy to committed workers and curb this self-destructive culture, the party may squander its best chance yet. The greatest obstacle to BJP’s growth in Kerala is not the UDF or LDF—it is the arrogance and cronyism eating away at the party from within, one undeserved ticket and one haughty outburst at a time.
