In a major political move ahead of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation elections, R Sreelekha, the first woman IPS officer from Kerala, has officially entered electoral politics. She will contest as a BJP candidate from the Sasthamangalam ward in the city.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is making an all-out effort to wrest control of the Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation, is fielding prominent faces to strengthen its campaign. Alongside Sreelekha, the party has also nominated former Indian athlete Padmini Thomas, an Arjuna Award recipient and Asian Games medalist, who will contest from the Palayam ward in the heart of the city.
BJP’s High-Stakes Campaign
With the civic polls expected to set the tone for the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections, BJP leaders are treating the Thiruvananthapuram corporation as a prestige battle. Party state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar is personally overseeing the campaign in the state capital, with the BJP pinning hopes on at least three key assembly segments in Thiruvananthapuram for the upcoming state polls.
Sreelekha, a 1987-batch IPS officer who retired as Director General of Police (DGP), joined the BJP last year and was appointed the party’s state vice president earlier this year. She is known for her clean service record and administrative experience. Speaking to the media, she said, “Being born and brought up in the city, I know Thiruvananthapuram very well and am sure of winning the maiden poll.”
Congress, CPM Prepare Counter Moves
Meanwhile, the Congress has announced that it will field former MLA K S Sabarinadhan, the son of late Congress leader G Karthikeyan, in a bid to reclaim lost ground in the CPM-ruled corporation. Sabarinadhan, a young professional and one of the Congress’s prominent faces in the capital, is being projected as the party’s mayoral candidate.
At present, out of the 100 seats in the Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the CPM holds 52 seats, the BJP-led NDA has 35, and the Congress-led UDF holds 10. The NDA, which won only six seats in 2010, made a significant leap to 35 seats in both the 2015 and 2020 elections, while the UDF declined from 42 seats in 2010 to 21 in 2015 and 10 in 2020.
The CPM is yet to announce its candidates, but party sources indicate that several sitting councillors and key district leaders are likely to be renominated.
While the State Election Commission has not yet formally declared the dates for the local body elections, all major political parties have begun announcing candidates early, underscoring the political importance of the Thiruvananthapuram corporation. The local body elections are expected to act as a bellwether for the 2026 assembly polls, with each major party viewing the corporation result as a crucial test of urban voter sentiment in Kerala’s capital.
(Source: Deccan Herald)
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