KOCHI: With summer and assembly elections near, heat – both literal and political – is rising in Kerala. Though the dates have not been announced, parties have launched poll preparations in the state.
While the LDF and UDF are busy setting up war rooms, the BJP has switched to election mode and submitted a list of probables for 35 assembly seats before the national leadership. Among them, the party hopes that three women – Sobha Surendran, Padmaja Venugopal and R Sreelakha – will be its face in the house.
Though Sobha was keen to contest from Alappuzha district, the party feels she would be the ideal candidate for Palakkad assembly constituency, currently represented by Rahul Mamkootathil.
Though she was considered for the Aroor, Kayamkulam, Haripad and Chengannur seats, NDA ally BDJS was not ready to part with Kayamkulam.
Later, the BJP offered her a choice between Chengannur and Palakkad. Considering her long association with the constituency, Sobha has reportedly decided to contest from Palakkad.
The firebrand leader, who doubled the party’s vote share from 22,317 to 40,076 in the 2016 assembly elections, hopes the support of women voters will help her sail through.
“Sobha can turn the tide in her favour, wherever she contests. In 2021 (assembly) when E Sreedharan contested, we lost by 4,000 votes. In 2024 (Lok Sabha), we lost by 12,000 votes. If Sobha is the candidate, BJP can easily achieve the target,” said a senior BJP leader in Palakkad.
In Thrissur, the BJP state leadership is considering Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of former chief minister K Karunakaran.
In 2021, when she contested as the Congress candidate, Padmaja lost by just 946 votes to CPI’s P Balachandran. It was the candidature of actor Suresh Gopi, who raised BJP’s vote share from 24,748 in 2016 to 40,457 in 2021, that sealed Padmaja’s fate. The BJP feels Padmaja, who joined it in 2024, can win Thrissur with Suresh Gopi’s support.