Riding on its landmark victory in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, the Bharatiya Janata Party has finalised its leadership choices for the city’s top civic posts. The party has decided to project senior leader and former district president V V Rajesh as its candidate for the Mayor’s position, marking a crucial step after breaking the Left’s decades-long dominance in the state capital.

Alongside the mayoral pick, the BJP has also chosen woman councillor Asha Nath as its nominee for the post of Deputy Mayor, signalling an attempt to balance experience with representation in the new civic administration.

The announcement was made after a closed-door meeting involving newly elected BJP councillors and key district-level leaders. Party insiders said the decision followed detailed internal consultations, with both state and local leadership weighing organisational experience, political acceptability, and governance priorities before finalising the names.

Sources indicated that the mayoral selection process witnessed intense discussions, with multiple names being considered at different stages. While retired senior police officer R Sreelekha was initially discussed as a potential choice, reservations within sections of the party leadership reportedly led to a shift in direction, eventually resulting in consensus around Rajesh.

Just before the official declaration, BJP’s Kerala unit president Rajeev Chandrasekhar reached out to the party’s central leadership for guidance. In a social media post, he said he had met national president J P Nadda and national working president Nitin Nabin to discuss organisational matters related to the party’s expansion and consolidation in Kerala. He expressed gratitude for the support extended by the central leadership to party workers in the state.