Recent local-body election results in Kerala have highlighted a series of BJP victories marked by cross-community voter support in select wards, reflecting the party’s expanding electoral footprint beyond traditional demographic boundaries. Official results and contemporaneous reporting show BJP candidates winning in Hindu-, Muslim- and Christian-majority localities, driven by a mix of candidate acceptance and constituency-specific issues.
Muslim Candidate Wins in Hindu-Majority Thrissur Ward
In Thrissur Municipal Corporation, BJP candidate Mumtaz Chinju won the Kannankulangara ward (Division 35), a division widely described in local reporting as having a Hindu-majority population. Mumtaz Chinju, a Muslim candidate, defeated candidates from the Congress and the Left, turning a ward that had previously been held by the Congress. She was the only Muslim candidate fielded by the BJP in the Thrissur Corporation election and has been associated with the party for several years.
Contrast this with 2021 polls when CPM fielded a Hindu candidate Nandakumar in a Muslim-majority taluka of Ponnani – As per Census 2011 data for Ponnani Municipality, about 68.31% of the population are Muslims and 31.02% are Hindus, making Muslims the clear majority. For the wider Ponnani taluk, Census data shows Muslims at about 59.85% and Hindus at about 39.44%
Protests erupted in parts of Malappuram and Kozhikode districts over the CPI(M)’s candidate selection for the upcoming Assembly elections. In Ponnani, hundreds of party supporters staged a march opposing the decision to field CITU national secretary P Nandakumar, demanding that local leader TM Siddique be named instead. Protesters carried banners and raised slogans questioning the leadership’s decision.
The fact that a Hindu-majority locality and the BJP members accepted the party’s decision to field a Muslim candidate and was also voted in by the majority Hindus tells a lot about the party and its supporters. Yes, Nandakumar won the Ponnani seat, but we need to take into account the initial protests too.
Senior BJP Leader Secures Kozhikode Corporation Seat
In Kozhikode Corporation, BJP leader Navya Haridas has continued to maintain a strong local-body presence. She previously contested the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election against Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi and is a two-term councillor of the Kozhikode Corporation, having won the Karaparambu division in the 2015 and 2020 municipal elections. Reports indicate that she has once again secured electoral support at the municipal level, with detailed ward-wise results still being compiled.
Despite her previous loss or her projection to the national scene by contesting in an MP seat, Haridas has made a mark in the ground with her strong presence. Haridas was also made Mahila Morcha chief in July 2025.
Christian-Majority Munambam Votes BJP
A significant result emerged from the Munambam ward of the Pallipuram panchayat in Ernakulam district, an area with a substantial Christian population. BJP candidate Kunjumon Augustine won the seat. The victory is widely seen in the context of a prolonged local dispute involving the Kerala Waqf Board, which had declared over 400 acres of land in Munambam as Waqf property, a move that affected an estimated 500 families, many of them Christian.
Local and national reports indicate that residents felt the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) did not adequately address their concerns. In contrast, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the centre actively supported the residents, with the Union government passing the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which aimed to address similar land issues. The Munambam result is seen as a direct reflection of this political alignment on a pressing local issue.
BJP – A Party That Is Making Inroads Despite Demographic Divide
These results present specific instances where BJP candidates from minority religious backgrounds won in areas where the majority of voters belong to a different religion. In Thrissur, the win suggests voter support for a local party worker transcending communal identity in that ward. In Munambam, the outcome underscores how a potent socio-economic issue – land rights – can influence voting behaviour, leading a community to support a party traditionally not its primary political home.
While these are localized victories within Kerala’s complex political landscape, they provide concrete examples of the BJP making electoral inroads in specific wards through a combination of local candidate credibility and issue-based mobilization.
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