Kasaragod (Kerala), March 25 – Emerging as a prominent leader in the Yuva Morcha nearly two decades ago in Kerala’s politically charged landscape, dominated by the CPI(M) and the Congress, former BJP chief K Surendran is one of the key candidates in the April 9 elections, despite facing 242 criminal cases.
Most of these cases stem from the strong protests he led against the Left government’s decision in 2018 to implement the Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all age groups to enter the revered Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala.
Despite the BJP’s active presence in state politics since the Jan Sangh days, Surendran narrowly lost the Manjeshwar Assembly seat by just 89 votes in the 2016 Assembly elections.
He attempted to contest again in 2021, but lost the seat in the northernmost part of Kerala by 740 votes. Surendran also ran in the Konni constituency in 2021, but also faced defeat there.
This time, the influential saffron party leader is seeking a mandate from Manjeshwar, a border constituency in Kasaragod, and his team is confident of success.
His main rival is A K M Ashraf, a candidate backed by the Congress-led UDF, and the leader of the Indian Union Muslim League. Ashraf defeated Surendran in 2021. Ashraf stated that the BJP leader's wishes would not be realized this time either.
"We are confident of winning this time," a confident Surendran told
He cited the strong resentment against the state government and the present MLA, who has not done much for the constituency.
"The Kerala government has been preventing people from accessing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s welfare schemes," the BJP leader said.
Surendran, who led the party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which saw actor-turned BJP leader Suresh Gopi win the Thrissur parliamentary seat, claimed that neither the LDF nor the UDF would secure an absolute majority.
"The BJP will be the force that determines the fate of Kerala," Surendran said.
However, he declined to specify the number of seats the NDA could win in the Assembly elections.
Surendran dismissed the allegations that he did not want to contest in Manjeshwar this time and demanded Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram. "Those were just media speculations," he said.
The BJP candidate claimed that the development lag in the constituency would be a major campaign topic.
Responding to Surendran, Ashraf said the BJP leader should visit the constituency regularly, not just once in five years, to understand the development that has taken place in Manjeshwar.
"If he has the time, I can take him around and show him," Ashraf told
He said the BJP candidate is merely a visitor and does not know what is happening in the constituency.
"The fight here is between the BJP and the UDF, and Surendran should understand that this is not 2016 or 2021, but 2026, where the UDF has a significant advantage," Ashraf said.
He said the UDF achieved a spectacular victory in the recently concluded local body elections and is now governing eight panchayats in the constituency.
Ashraf claimed that the LDF also has a limited presence in the constituency, though it had won Manjeshwar in 2006.
"In 2006, the UDF had many local issues and finished third. But the situation has changed considerably since then. Now, the UDF is well-prepared," he said.
The CPI(M) has fielded K R Jayananda, a Kasaragod district secretariat member of the party, in a bid to repeat its 2006 victory.
"I was born and raised here, and I can tell you that people have now decided to vote for the development brought in by the LDF government. The situation is similar to that of 2006," Jayananda told
He said Surendran is locally known as a "migratory bird" who comes to the constituency only during election season and leaves once it is over.
"The only advantage for Surendran in Manjeshwar is that there is no need to paint new wall graffiti, as he has been contesting here for the third consecutive time," Jayananda said.
He said the people of Manjeshwar will never forget the hardship caused during the Covid period, when the then BJP government in Karnataka closed all 29 border points between Karnataka and Kerala.
"The people of Manjeshwar have a very close connection with Mangalore in Karnataka. It is our primary center for education and healthcare. But the BJP government closed the borders despite our repeated demands during Covid," Jayananda said.
He said even those who once supported the IUML are now shifting their loyalty to the LDF, as they are disillusioned with the religion-based politics of both the UDF and the BJP.