BJP Gains May Disrupt UDF-LDF Electoral Balance In Kerala Polls |
Kerala is regarded as the “final frontier” for the BJP and the last bastion of the Left. For the Congress, the state offers redemption after a long streak of electoral losses. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has an advantage vis-à-vis the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the 2026 Assembly polls, but an increase in the BJP’s vote share could upset calculations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow in Thrissur this week evoked conspicuous public enthusiasm, but one should not read too much into it.
Kerala’s “city of gold” is, after all, a BJP seat, wrested from the Congress in 2024 by the party’s lone MP in the state, Suresh Gopi, who is the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas. Despite eight decades of RSS activism and over 5,000 shakhas in the state, the BJP has made little electoral headway. Its inability to crack Kerala is rightly attributed to the state’s unique socio-religious set-up.
A high proportion of minorities and a history of progressive reforms that secularised state politics have engendered distrust of right-wing parties. A little over 45 per cent of Kerala’s population comprises minorities, with Muslims at around 27 per cent and Christians at 18 per cent, according to the 2011 Census. The share of the Hindu population is the lowest........