V V Rajesh is the BJP's first-ever Mayor in Kerala.
Senior BJP leader V V Rajesh, who has been one of the key faces of the party in the state capital, was on Friday sworn in as the mayor of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation.
In the recent elections, the BJP had emerged as the single largest party in the corporation, winning 50 of the 101 seats, ending the 45-year-long uninterrupted regime of CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). Election to one ward was deferred after the death of a candidate during the election period.
Currently one of the state secretaries of the BJP, Rajesh has been a Councillor from 2020. In the recent elections, he was fielded again after the party decided for a crucial battle in the state capital region, which has emerged as key to its electoral plans in Kerala.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, Rajesh, who was then the BJP district president, unsuccessfully contested from Vattiyoorkavu seat, which falls within the corporation region.
The 50-year-old leader, who has risen through the party youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), is a lawyer by profession. On Thursday, a day before voting was held to elected the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, the BJP ensured the support of Independent councillor Radhakrishnan. Three-time BJP councilor Asha Nath G S was elected as the Deputy Mayor.
It was widely believed that the mantle of the mayor would go to former DGP and first IPS officer from Kerala R Sreelekha, who had won her debut civic body elections. However, the BJP decided in favour of a senior leader, who rose from ranks, for the post of mayor.
A former spokesperson of the party and a familiar face on TV debates, Rajesh has been in the forefront of agitations.
In 2018, when the BJP led massive protests against the entry of menstruating women into the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala temple, Rajesh had led the agitations in the state capital. He faced criminal cases in this regard in Thiruvananthapuram as well as Sabarimala.
By selecting Rajesh to head the corporation, the BJP has sent a strong message that leaders and cadres who have toiled over decades matter for the party. Of late, the BJP in Kerala has been facing allegations that the party has been promoting fortune hunters or turncoats from other parties in key parliamentary posts, sidelining those who had worked for the party. He also belongs to the Hindu Nair community, which is dominant in the state capital region.
After getting elected as Mayor, Rajesh told the media, “In the next five years, the capital will be converted into one of the three most developed cities of the country. All the 101 wards in the city will be considered as a unit as far development is concerned. We are representing the party that rules the country. The corporation has members of the party that rules the state and those from the grand old party. The council has former legislators as members. The experience of all the councilors will be tapped for the development of the city.”