Inside BJP's 'Mission 2026': Post Thiruvananthapuram Corporation win, party shifts focus to Kerala assembly polls

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will officially launch the BJP’s ‘Mission 2026’—its strategic plan for the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections—during his visit to the state capital in January. The exact date of the prime minister’s visit is yet to be announced. During the visit, Modi is also expected to unveil a master plan for the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, where the BJP recently captured power, ending the Left’s 45-year rule.

Notably, the master plan will be projected as the BJP’s political pitch not only for Thiruvananthapuram—where the party has high hopes of winning assembly seats—but also for voters across Kerala.

Speaking to THE WEEK, newly elected Thiruvananthapuram mayor and BJP leader V.V. Rajesh said the master plan would prioritise four issues that directly affect daily life: waste management, the stray dog menace, proper drainage, and drinking water supply.

“These are short-term priorities; addressing these issues itself would bring significant change in the corporation,” Rajesh said. “Alongside them, there are long-term plans related to medical and spiritual tourism, IT development, and leveraging the potential of the Vizhinjam International Seaport.”

Rajesh added that housing would be another key focus area. “Housing and land-related projects often get stalled because the state government does not fulfil its financial share. If the state government is unable to contribute, then when the Centre and the corporation invest their shares, alternative funding options such as CSR funds will be explored,” he said, adding that the corporation is working on submitting its proposals to the Prime Minister’s Office.

In the recently concluded local body polls, Thiruvananthapuram was the only district where the BJP crossed the 20 per cent vote-share mark, securing 23.08 per cent. The party polled over 17 per cent of the votes in Kasaragod, Palakkad, Thrissur, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, and Kollam. Party analysis suggests that the BJP performed decently in 34 assembly constituencies. In nine constituencies, it secured more than 40,000 votes, and in five of them, it crossed the 45,000-vote mark. In the Nemom and Vattiyoorkkavu constituencies in Thiruvananthapuram, the BJP emerged first in terms of vote share.

Notably, senior leaders were asked to focus on local body elections in constituencies where the party is eyeing victories in 2026. The leadership calculates that this targeted strategy yielded gains in the local body polls. State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar has already announced that he will contest from the Nemom constituency in the 2026 assembly elections, indirectly kick-starting his campaign during the local body poll phase itself.

While the party’s overall vote share in the local body polls was lower than in 2020, its concentrated performance in pockets where victory was considered realistic, stood out. The party believes a similar approach could prove decisive in the assembly elections as well.

Former BJP state president K. Surendran told THE WEEK that the party is following a clearly defined strategy aimed at winning. “We first identify the places where victory is realistically possible and work more intensively there. At the same time, we also try to increase our vote share everywhere else,” he said.

The party's major discussions related to the assembly elections would begin only in the first week of January. On January 3, senior party leaders are scheduled to meet to discuss the roadmap in detail.

He added that the BJP has now established itself as a party capable of winning elections in Kerala. “We got a Lok Sabha MP earlier, and this time we won the Thiruvananthapuram mayor’s post. People have started voting to make us win. Until recently, there was a feeling that voting for the BJP was pointless. That has changed,” Surendran said, adding that this shift would benefit the party significantly in the assembly elections.

The BJP leadership believes that in the current political climate, anti-incumbency votes will not flow entirely towards the UDF, and that a section of those votes is instead coming to the BJP in constituencies where it has a realistic chance of victory. The party is also attempting to attract maximum Hindu and Christian votes by alleging that the UDF practises Muslim minority appeasement.

“Because of associations with groups like Jamaat-e-Islami, people in many areas are more inclined towards us than towards the LDF. So, we now have a greater chance of getting votes from both sides,” Surendran said.

However, concerns remain over the BJP’s inability to sustain some of the gains it made in the Lok Sabha elections during the local body polls—most notably in Thrissur. Actor-turned-politician and Union Minister Suresh Gopi had opened the BJP’s Lok Sabha account in Kerala from Thrissur. But, in the Thrissur Corporation elections, the party managed only a two-seat improvement compared to 2020, winning eight seats. The UDF secured power with 33 seats, ending a decade-long LDF rule.

Nevertheless, the party hopes to build early momentum, with Modi launching the campaign, and then, by concentrating on winnable seats, not only to reopen its account in the Kerala assembly but also emerge as a key player in deciding who ultimately rules the state.