Bharathiya Janata Party, Kerala
Bharatiya Janata Party, Keralam ഭാരതീയ ജനതാ പാർട്ടി, കേരളം | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | BJP |
| Leader |
|
| President | K Surendran |
| Founder | |
| Headquarters | Mararji Bhavan,Opposite Thycaud House Thycaud,Thiruvananthapuram, 695014 |
| Colours | Saffron |
| ECI Status | registered |
| Seats in Lok Sabha | 1 / 20
|
| Seats in Rajya Sabha | 0 / 9
|
| Seats in Kerala Legislative Assembly | 0 / 140
|
| Election symbol | |
Lotus | |
| Party flag | |
 | |
| Website | |
| www | |
The Bharatiya Janata Party,Keralam or simply, BJP Keralam (BJP; [bʱaːɾət̪iːjə dʒənət̪aː paːrtiː] ; lit. 'Indian People's Party'), is the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party of the Kerala. Its head office is situated at the Mararji Bhavan, Opposite Thycaud House, Thycaud, Thiruvananthapuram.The current president of Kerala BJP is K Surendran. It is an opposition party in Kerala even though the principal opposition party is Congress lead UDF. Till date BJP is unsuccessful in forming a government in Kerala.
Electoral history
[edit]The electoral performance of BJP in Kerala is mostly unsuccessful. Till date BJP is able to produce only one legislator and one Member of Parliament from the state even though it is successful in increasing its vote share.
The best electorial performance of BJP in Kerala Legislative Assembly was done by O Rajagopal. In the 2011 Assembly elections he contested from the Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram, but eventually lost by a margin of 6,400 votes. He lost the by-election from Neyyattinkara, which was held on 2 June 2012. However, he increased the BJP votes from 6,730 (2011 Assembly Election) to 30,507; an almost five-fold increase within a span of a year.[1] The BJP vote share also significantly increased from 6.0% in the 2011 election to 23.2%.He then contested in Aruvikkara by-election and finished third, although his personal influence ensured that in the contest BJP increased votes from 7,694 to 34,145 causing division of anti-incumbency vote resulting in the victory of UDF.[2] In the 2016 Assembly elections he contested from Nemom and defeated the sitting MLA V. Sivankutty, by a margin of 8,671 votes creating history and becoming the first MLA to enter Kerala Legislative Assembly from BJP at the age of 87.[3]
Suresh Gopi created history by becoming the first person to be elected from Kerala to Parliament on BJP ticket.He won the election with a majority of over 74,000 votes.[4][5][6][7] Of the seven assembly constituencies that make up the Thrissur Lok Sabha segment, Suresh Gopi was ahead in six, except Guruvayoor: Manalur by 8,013 votes, Ollur by 10,363 votes, Thrissur by 14,117 votes, Nattika by 13,945 votes, Irinjalakuda by 13,016 votes and Puthukad by 12,692 votes.[8] He was appointed as the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, as well as the Minister of State for Tourism, in the third Modi ministry in June 2024.[9][10]
Lok Sabha elections
[edit]| Year | Seats won | +/- |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 0 / 20
|
|
| 2024 | 1 / 20
|
 1
|
Legislative Assembly elections
[edit]| Year | Seats won | +/- | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 0 / 140
|
0
|
– |
| 1987 | 0 / 140
|
0
|
– |
| 1991 | 0 / 140
|
0
|
- |
| 1996 | 0 / 140
|
0
|
- |
| 2001 | 0 / 140
|
0
|
- |
| 2006 | 0 / 140
|
0
|
- |
| 2011 | 0 / 140
|
0
|
- |
| 2016 | 1 / 140
|
1
|
Opposition |
| 2021 | 0 / 140
|
 1
|
- |
Leadership
[edit]In 1980, the Janata Party split and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was formed. O Rajagopal then served as its Kerala president until 1985.
K G Marar became the second president and served from 1985 to 1990.[11]
In January 2010 V Muralidharan was elected as the State President of the Kerala BJP.[12] He was elected for his second term in the office in January 2013.[13].Under his leadership, the kerala BJP had a vote share of 10.8 percent in the 2014 Lok Sabha Election whereas it only recorded 6.4 percent in 2009. The total votes BJP got in the local body elections was nearly 28 Lakhs.[14] The 2014–2015 membership drive has expanded the party membership base from 5.75 lakhs to 20 lakhs.[15]
Kummanam Rajeshekar became the state president on 2015.[16]
K Surendran was appointed the state president of Bharatiya Janata Party on February 15, 2020.[17]
List of presidents
[edit]| No[18] | Name | Period | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | O. Rajagopal | 1980 | 1985 | 5 years | ||
| 2 | K. G. Marar | 1985 | 1990 | 1994 | 1995 | 6 years |
| 3 | K Raman Pillai | 1990 | 1994 | 4 years | ||
| 4 | K V Sreedharan Master | 1995 | 1998 | 3 years | ||
| 5 | C K Padmanabhan | 1998 | 2003 | 5 years | ||
| 6 | P. S. Sreedharan Pillai | 2003 | 2006 | 2018 | 2019 | 4 year |
| 7 | P K Krishnadas | 2006 | 2009 | 3 years | ||
| 8 | V. Muraleedharan | 2009 | 2015 | 5 years | ||
| 9 | Kummanam Rajasekharan | 2015 | 2018 | 3 years | ||
| 10 | K Surendran | 2020 | present | |||
See also
[edit]- Bharatiya Janata Party, Gujarat
- Bharatiya Janata Party, Maharashtra
- Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal
- Bharatiya Janata Party, Tamil Nadu
- Bharatiya Janata Party, Uttar Pradesh
- Bharatiya Janata Party, Madhya Pradesh
- State units of the Bharatiya Janata Party
References
[edit]- ^ "Result of by-election from Neyyattinkara Assemblyconstiutency, Kerala". keralaassembly.org. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ^ "In Aruvikkara, BJP produces five-fold increase in vote share at the cost of CPI(M)". The Indian Express. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
- ^ "This is O Rajagopal, BJP's first legislator ever in Kerala". 19 May 2016.
- ^ "BJP to contest in 12 LS seats in Kerala: Suresh Gopi in Thrissur, Rajeev Chandrasekhar in TVM". English.Mathrubhumi. 2 March 2024. Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
- ^ "Lok Sabha election results: BJP makes Lok Sabha debut in Kerala as Suresh Gopi wins in Thrissur". Financialexpress. 4 June 2024. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
- ^ "Thrissur LS Election Result 2024: Thumping victory for Suresh Gopi". www.onmanorama.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
- ^ "Suresh Gopi: All You Need to Know About Malayalam Actor Behind BJP's Entry Into Kerala". News18. 4 June 2024. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
- ^ "Congress' Thrissur dilemma: Where did 10% votes go?". www.onmanorama.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
- ^ "Shri Suresh Gopi assumes charge as Minister of State for Tourism". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ "After 'didn't want' Cabinet berth comment, BJP MP Suresh Gopi issues clarification on 'incorrect news'". The Indian Express. 10 June 2024. Archived from the original on 12 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ "Bharatiya Janata Party, Kerala State". Archived from the original on 14 April 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
- ^ "V Muralidhar Kerala state BJP president". The Hindu. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ^ "V Muraleedharan to continue as BJP Kerala president". Indian Express. 18 February 2013. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ^ "BJP to form new front in State". The Hindu. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ^ BJP Chief Confident of Party's Growth. The New Indian Express. 4 April 2015 [1]
- ^ Venugopal, Vasudha (8 January 2016). "BJP to fight Kerala polls on Hindutva: State chief Kummanam Rajasekharan" – via The Economic Times - The Times of India.
- ^ archive, From our online (15 February 2020). "Surendran, the aggressive face of BJP in Kerala, appointed state president". The New Indian Express.
- ^ "Bharatiya Janata Party".
Works cited
[edit]- "List of Political Parties and Election Symbols main Notification Dated 18 January 2013" (PDF). India: Election Commission of India. 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.