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Kerala / The New Indian Express

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INTERVIEW| There is a visible change in approach towards BJP

KOCHI: The BJPs campaign for the local-body elections is focused on development issues, state general secretary Anoop Antony says in a conversation with TNIE, adding that political equations in the state has changed. Excerpts: The BJP has not been able to corner power in Kerala, where politics has been largely bipolar. What is your strategy for this election? The equations have changed. We have focused our campaign on development issues. There are concerns that have been neglected by both fronts. There is a visible change in the approach towards the BJP. There is a strong sentiment against the gold theft at Sabarimala and the state government is facing backlash from devotees. This will work in our favour. What are your expectations? In the previous election, we wrested control of 19 panchayats and two municipalities. This time round, the NDA will rule Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur corporations, besides hundreds of panchayats and several municipalities. We are presenting a novel concept of new-age governance. The focus will be on weeding out corruption and bringing the benefits of hitherto unknown central schemes to the common man. We organised development seminars in all local bodies and compiled suggestions of projects to be taken up. We will be releasing the development documents for each local body within a week. What is special about BJPs election manifesto? In local bodies where the BJP will be in majority, the party will introduce a development blueprint within 45 days. The document will have details of development projects that will be implemented over the next five years. But people will also evaluate the partys performance... I accept there were internal issues in Palakkad and Pandalam. But those were resolved amicably without impacting governance. Palakkad is the first municipality in Kerala to be brought under blanket CCTV surveillance. Both Palakkad and Pandalam ensured that the benefits of central schemes reach the common man. We are fighting the election highlighting our achievements. The BJP has been trying to woo the Christian community. Do you believe the outreach will deliver results? There has been a change in the approach of the Christian community. We have fielded a large number of minority candidates this time. The shift in Christian votes will definitely benefit the NDA. The BJP is the single-largest party contesting this election as we have fielded candidates in 19,871 wards.

27 Nov 2025 7:58 am