Thiruvananthapuram

Buoyed by its first Corporation victory in Kerala in the recently held local body elections, the BJP is fired up for its fight in Nemom, a constituency covering parts of Thiruvananthapuram city and its outskirts, which gave the party its first and only MLA in 2016, O Rajagopal.

With Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the state BJP president, having declared himself a candidate for the Nemom constituency long before the election announcement, is aiming for nothing less than victory in the 2026 elections.

A comparison of voting patterns in Nemom over the 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections shows shifting support bases among the three major fronts, with the BJP's vote share dipping from its 2016 high even as the Left and Congress made gains.

However, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Chandrasekhar, who was the BJP candidate, secured his highest vote share in Nemom among all Assembly segments in the Thiruvananthapuram parliamentary constituency, polling over 45 per cent, according to booth-level data aggregated from the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Senior CPI(M) leader and sitting MLA V Sivankutty, popularly known as 'Sivankuttyannan' among the people of Nemom, however, has no qualms about the BJP's tall claims and clearly states that the party will not open its account again in the constituency.

He accused the Congress of "adjustment politics" with the BJP in Nemom, where it has not yet declared a candidate.

The CPI(M) has long accused the Congress of cross-voting in 2016, which allegedly enabled BJP veteran Rajagopal to win the seat for the first time.

However, in the 2021 elections, Sivankutty fulfilled what Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had famously said at an election rally--that the LDF would close down the BJP's only account in that election.

Sivankutty won by over 4,000 votes against BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan, and he hopes to secure a comfortable victory again this time, citing the development work carried out by the LDF government in both the state and the constituency.

However, Chandrasekhar is confident about his victory in the party stronghold.

"People in Nemom want a change. They are dissatisfied with the poor performance of the MLA and the government. I am open to a debate on the development in the constituency over the last five years, but I do not think Sivankutty is sufficiently equipped," Chandrasekhar told PTI Videos.

In a social media post, Sivankutty challenged Chandrasekhar to an open debate comparing the constituency's development over the past five years with that during Rajagopal's tenure between 2016 and 2021.

Chandrasekhar, who has consistently downplayed the overemphasis on the Nemom constituency by stating that all 140 constituencies are equally important for the NDA, believes that their campaign model--offering development projects from the Union Government, which they successfully implemented in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation--will help them win the seat as well.

The BJP hopes to win the constituency, replicating its performance in the Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation in the local body polls held a few months ago.

Sivankutty quickly responded to Chandrasekhar's efforts to woo the majority Hindu voters in the constituency, stating that his fight is for secularism, not communal division.

"Rajeev Chandrasekhar has replaced democracy with money power," Sivankutty said, adding that he believes in the people of all religions in the constituency, citing his participation in breaking the fast with members of the Muslim community at a mosque in Manacaud.

Chandrasekhar began his campaign with a roadshow in Tirumala on Monday night, while Sivankutty launched his campaign on Sunday night, barely an hour after the election dates were announced.

In the 2021 elections, Sivankutty secured 38.24 per cent of the vote, compared to 41.39 per cent in 2016, when he lost to Rajagopal.

Kummanam Rajasekharan of the BJP, who finished second in 2021, secured a 35.54 per cent vote share, compared to the 47.46 per cent secured by Rajagopal in 2016.

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K Muraleedharan of the Congress secured 25.01 per cent of the vote in 2021, compared to 9.70 per cent secured by V Surendra Pillai of UDF, who contested in Nemom for the UDF in 2016.

As the days progress, the contest in Nemom is expected to intensify, with national leaders campaigning for the BJP's star candidate Chandrasekhar and leaders such as Pinarayi Vijayan supporting Sivankutty.