BJP ‘doubles’ Kerala districts to 30, Christian push evident as it appoints 27 unit heads

Kochi: The BJP in Kerala has made a major change in its organisational structure ahead of the local body elections due later this year. Instead of the 14 district units, the party now has 30 organisational districts in the state.

The plan to abolish the committees at the revenue district level and form more committees of equal power has been implemented. 27 new organisational district presidents have been announced, and three more will be announced later.

While Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram and Kozhikode districts have been divided into three each organisational districts, seven revenue districts have been split into two each organisational units. Kasaragod, Wayanad and Pathanamthitta have been retained as single units. The decision was taken at a recent leadership meet in Ernakulam.

The 27 new unit heads, identified by the party as district presidents, took charge on Monday. Appointments to Pathanamthitta and one unit each in Idukki and Thiruvananthapuram are pending, reportedly due to leadership's failure to reach a consensus.

The party’s aggressive push to make inroads into the Christian community is evident in the latest restructuring, with three from the community being appointed organisational district presidents. They are Roy Chacko (Kottayam East), VC Varghese (Idukki South), and Justin Jacob (Thrissur City). Kottayam East, which covers four assembly constituencies—Poonjar, Kanjirappally, Changanassery, and Puthuppally—has a significant Christian population.

In Thrissur City, part of the Thrissur Lok Sabha segment, which elected the first BJP MP in the state, the party has assigned its long-term loyalist Justin from the Christian community to lead the organisation. He was a general secretary of the previous Thrissur district committee. The appointment is seen as a reward for his unwavering commitment and efforts to woo the minority community to the party.

Notably, four of the 27 newly appointed ‘district’ presidents are women – Niveditha Subrahmanian (Thrissur North), Deepa Puzhakkal (Malappuram West), Raji Prasad (Kollam East) and ML Aswini (Kasaragod).

BJP state president K Surendran has highlighted the new appointments as the sign of the party’s inclusive nature and a reply to the allegations of being anti-minority and misogynistic.

The BJP’s Kerala unit, which has been struggling to make significant electoral gains in the state, has emulated the party’s organisational structure in several other states with the latest restructuring. For instance, in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the BJP has 70 organisational district units in 38 revenue districts. The style of the party’s ideological parent—Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)—is evident in the new format.

The division of revenue districts into organisational districts follows the party’s previous move to split assembly segments into two. In the state, the party has 280 assembly committees though there are only 140 constituencies.

BJP spokesperson Narayanan Nampoothiri said the latest decision is a continuation of the assembly constituency-wise move which proved to be a success. “The sole aim of the move is to ensure more concentration in each district by reducing the area of focus for committees. The experience of RSS in such micromanagement was helpful in this decision,” he said.

New presidents
Thiruvananthapuram City – Karamana Jayan
Thiruvananthapuram South – Mukkampalamoodu Biju Kumar
Thiruvananthapuram North (Not declared)
Kollam West – S Prashanth
Kollam East – Raji Prasad
Pathanamthitta (Not declared)
Alappuzha South – Sandeep Vachaspathi
Alappuzha North – P K Binoy
Idukki South (Not declared)
Idukki North – VC Varghese
Kottayam West – Ligin Lal
Kottayam East – Roy Chacko
Ernakulam City – K S Shyju
Ernakulam North – M A Brahmaraj
Ernakulam East – P P Sajeev
Thrissur City – Justin Jacob
Thrissur North – Niveditha
Thrissur South – A R Sreekumar
Palakkad North – P Venugopal
Palakkad South–Prashanth Sivan
Malappuram Central – P Subramanian
Malappuram East – P R Reshmil
Malappuram West – Deepa Puzhakkal
Kozhikode City – Prakash Babu
Kozhikode Rural – T Devadas
Kozhikode North – Praphul Krishnan
Wayanad – Prashanth Malavayal
Kannur South – Biju Elakuzhi
Kannur South – K K Vinodkumar
Kasaragod – M L Ashwini