THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Weeks after scripting its first-ever municipal corporation victory in Thiruvananthapuram, the BJP has plunged into a crisis after retired IPS officer and Sasthamangalam ward councillor R Sreelekha openly voiced her displeasure over being sidelined for the Mayor’s post. However, BJP insiders said her remarks to an online news outlet, 10 days after she lost the mayoral race to V V Rajesh, signalled a larger issue linked to the party’s internal alignments ahead of the upcoming assembly election.
Sreelekha, the first woman IPS officer from the state, told an online news outlet that she was fielded by the party not to serve as a councillor but on the promise that she would be made Mayor. Sreelekha, who is also BJP state vice-president, added that she was hesitant to contest initially but agreed when assured that she would be the face of the corporation election.
Sreelekha said that as per her assessment, the BJP central leadership chose V V Rajesh and Asha Nath GS as Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively as they could perform better owing to their experience. The former IPS officer said that once the central leadership took a decision, she could not resist it, throw away her responsibility and just walk away, “There are many people who have elected me. Owing to my loyalty to them, I have decided to continue as councillor for the next five years,” she added.
After the interview kicked up a row, Sreelekha toned down before the media saying she had no complaints over the choice of V V Rajesh as Mayor. A few hours later, Sreelekha came up with a Facebook post severely criticising the media for “editing out” and showing only selective portions of her response. “Whatever lies the media spreads, I have never had any displeasure then or even now. I am only proud to be a functionary of the BJP,” she said.
Sreelekha’s resentment first surfaced when she walked out of Mayor V V Rajesh’s swearing-in ceremony even before his inaugural address, citing personal reasons. As per a compromise formula, Sreelekha who lost out in the Mayoral race was reportedly offered candidature in the Vattiyoorkavu assembly seat in the upcoming assembly election.
BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who contested from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat in 2024, had topped the Vattiyoorkavu Assembly segment by a margin of over 9,000 votes.
“During preliminary discussions within the party recently on which constituencies senior leaders should focus on in the upcoming Assembly election, (former state president) K Surendran’s name was actively doing the rounds for Vattiyoorkavu,” confirmed a senior leader.
Party sources indicated that the brewing uncertainty over the candidature in Vattiyoorkavu could have prompted Sreelekha to express her resentment openly, perhaps as a signal to the central leadership.
“These discussions are still at a preliminary stage. The party’s state election committee is yet to be constituted, and the process will gather momentum only after (Union Minister) Amit Shah’s visit on January 11. Until then, the speculation over candidature is premature,” a member of the party’s core committee said.