BJP's VV Rajesh becomes Thiruvananthapuram Mayor

BJP leader V V Rajesh sworn in as the mayor of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation on Friday. The BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, former union minister V Muraleedharan and former Kerala unit president K Surendran also present at the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation office.After the ceremony Kerala BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar told reporters, "The CPM, with the support of implicit or behind-the-door support of the Congress, has run Thiruvananthapuram into the ground." "Unfortunately, this corporation has become a den of corruption. This corporation, as we have exposed during the campaign, has wasted money and done nothing to develop Thiruvananthapuram. Even basic issues like drainage, water, and solid waste management have been ignored for the last 45 years."

#WATCH | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: On BJP's VV Rajesh elected Thiruvananthapuram mayor, Kerala BJP President, Rajeev Chandrasekhar says, "The CPM, with the support of implicit or behind-the-door support of the Congress, has run Thiruvananthapuram city to the ground.… pic.twitter.com/CvMDVl0Pbp

— ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2025

Earlier, Rajesh was elected mayor after the saffron party won 50 of the 101 wards, marking its first-ever victory in a municipal corporation in Kerala. In the mayoral election , Rajesh secured 51 votes, including the support of an Independent councillor. P Sivaji of the LDF received 29 votes, while UDF candidate K S Sabarinathan secured 19 votes, of which two were later declared invalid.The BJP wrested control of the Corporation after nearly four decades of LDF rule.Karumam ward councillor G S Asha Nath has been announced as the party’s nominee for deputy mayor, the BJP said in a press release.Rajesh said that the development programmes would be implemented in all 101 wards equally. “We will move forward, taking everyone along…Thiruvananthapuram will be transformed into one of the developed cities of the country, BJP workers chant 'ganageetham' as first BJP mayor takes oath at Thiruvananthapuram corporation.

VIDEO | Kerala: Sangh, BJP workers chant 'ganageetham' as first BJP mayor takes oath at Thiruvananthapuram corporation.

(Full VIDEO available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/BNTMaFgDy4

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 26, 2025

Apart from the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, the BJP also won in the Municipalities of Tripunithura and Palakkad. Of the six municipal corporations in the state, the UDF won four, while the LDF and BJP won one each. The 2025 Kerala local body elections, conducted in two phases on December 9 and 11, saw the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) emerge victorious across most rural and urban local bodies. A major political shift occurred in Thiruvananthapuram, where the BJP-led NDA wrested control of the corporation, ending the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front’s 45-year-long rule.