BJP’s Kerala Story: From a Ground Force to The Foreground

Here’s how BJP has made inroads into Kerala’s world of politics.

(Photo: BJP Keralam’s Facebook Page)

Thirty seven year old Ranjith owns a small garage in Nemom, one of the strong holds of BJP in Thiruvananthpuram in Kerala where the party pins its hope to win the first Assembly seat in the state.

In the blistering heat when Malayalis prefer to stay indoors, Ranjith’s regular spot is a lottery shop just across the road. In the hope of winning a prize, he never misses a chance to buy a ticket every Tuesday.

Ranjith has great faith in star signs and on 16 May this year, as Kerala goes to polls, he is betting big on the RSS supported BJP.

Since my childhood I have seen alternate governments in Kerala. Five years Congress loots the people and then comes CPM to loot us. This is the history in Kerala. Now we want that to end. I will vote for the BJP, I am ready to take a chance this time. When good things can happen in the rest of the India, they should also happen in Kerala.

<b>Ranjith, Thiruvanthapuram </b>

Ranjith standing by his favourite lottery stand. (Photo: The Quint/Parul Agrawal) 

Will BJP Win This Time?

Thiruvanathpuram, the capital of Kerala with Tamil and Tulu speaking Brahmin vote bank, is the best bet for BJP to open an account in the Assembly. Four of the five top leaders in BJP Keralam are contesting from Thiruvanathpuram to rewrite history.

According to historians, the RSS attained a critical mass in Thiruvananthapuram after the Chala Market riots in the 1980s that began as a clash between Hindu and Muslim traders.

BJP might be the ‘newest’ entrant to the usual two-party fight in Kerala but the RSS cadre has always been a strong force on the ground.

RSS gained its influence by embedding itself in the local culture since 1950s. The Ramayana months that were celebrated privately by the Hindus are all led by RSS now. The cadre has done this so effectively that even CPM now accepts religion’s role in society. To counter the BJP-RSS wave CPM is modifying its politically ideology to include ‘the believers’ in the party.&nbsp;

<b>Professor </b><b>KN Panniker, Historian and Columnist </b>

Sudheeran, a lottery shop owner at Nemom. (Photo: The Quint/Parul Agrawal)

Optimism Vs Reality

The lottery shop owner Sudheeran has seen many trying their luck but also, failing to get lucky. He is optimistic about the new party but the realist in him has a different reason to give.

O Rajagopal is a very nice man. But he doesn’t have many people with him. This road that he is campaigning on has all been built by the Congress. We want the BJP to win but they don’t have many people. So how will they work?

<b>Sudheeran, lottery shop owner</b>

Excitement Like Never Before

In the colourful party office of the BJP in Thiruvanathpuram the excitement is like never before. A local shop owner just a few meters away from the party office tells:

Lot of media people like you are coming here now. Unlike CPM or UDF the BJP party workers earlier never accepted or boasted about their identity. They belonged to a small party then, but now they are proudly campaigning everywhere.

<b>Local shop owner</b>

A poster promoting BJP at the party office in Thiruvananthapuram. (Photo: The Quint/Parul Agrawal)

Cashing in on Acche Din

The eighty-seven-year-old editor of the magazine Chithi, an RSS mouthpiece in Kerala reveals how the party geared itself from a ground force to the front face in the state.

In 2014, even before Narendra Modi became a PM candidate in Loksabha elections, he along with the top BJP leaders visited Kerala to meet the cadre. That created lot of enthusiasm in the workers. After BJP came to power at the centre, there was no looking back. You can see the impact in the vote share.

<b>Rajasekhara Panicker, Editor, Chithi Magazine</b>

In Kerala, BJP has come so far by cashing in on the Acche Din rhetoric and enthusing a consolidated Hindu identity. Tie-ups with leaders like Vellappally Natesan representing numerically strong Ezhava and Nair community are expected to multiply the vote share.

The Hindus in the state have suffered for long. While the Christians and the Muslims have been represented well, the Hindus have always been discriminated against in the name of secularism. The BJP has given a voice and identity to the Hindu community of Kerala.&nbsp;

<b>Rajasekhara Panicker, Editor, Chithi Magazine</b>

The 2011 Kerala Assembly elections that showcased an increase in BJP’s vote share were the first indication that the political scenario in the state is changing.

The last by-elections and the current state elections are crucial, not for the BJP winning the seats, but for the increase in vote share, and if that happens consistently, then the politics in Kerala is bound to change.&nbsp;

<b>Professor KN Pannikar, Historian and Columnist</b>

A rough translation of this social media post, ‘Kerala has lost its way and BJP is there to show you the right way.’ (Photo: BJP Keralam’s Facebook Page)

As the sun sets in Nemom and we encounter posters after posters of the BJP leaders in the locality, we also meet the mixed groups of voters – some confident, others confused but largely contented with the political scenario in Kerala.

Mohammed Illiyas Shafi. (Photo: The Quint/Parul Agrawal)

As we stop by Mohammed Iliyas Shafi’s shop in search of water and some insight into what may come out on 19 May after the counting of votes in Kerala, he says:

Governments do what they have to do but ordinary people like us have to survive on our own. There are two parties in Kerala and they will win alternately. We have known this fact for years. You will get to know about it on 19 May.