The Congress is banking on a pair of 21-year-old law students to inject fresh energy into its campaign and challenge the LDF’s long-held grip on the Kollam Corporation. The party is quietly testing its generational shift in the Mundakkal and Vallikeezhu wards of the Kollam Corporation. Jayalakshmi J and  Aarcha KS — both active KSU leaders — have been moving from classrooms to doorsteps, hoping their ideas will resonate with voters.

Having lost her mother at birth and her paternal grandmother when she was in grade 5, Jayalakshmi has managed her household from a young age. Her father, A Prakash, who runs a timber mill in Papanasam, has long been associated with the RSP. These days, she wakes up early to finish household chores, visits households in the morning, attends college, and returns to continue campaigning.

“Watching my father work as an RSP activist shaped my interest in politics. When I joined college, becoming part of the KSU felt natural,” she says. Jayalakshmi served as the KSU unit general secretary at SN College of Legal Studies, Kollam. The KSU’s victory in her college last year, breaking the SFI’s 13-year winning streak, strengthened her conviction that she is cut out for politics. So when the Congress offered her the Mundakkal seat, she “didn’t think twice”.

She acknowledges the weight of expectations. “They have placed a huge responsibility on me,” she says. She hopes to tap into what she describes as growing anti-incumbency in the ward, where the LDF has fielded a sitting councillor. While a few voters have questioned her age, Jayalakshmi insists most residents are “looking for change from the current state of affairs”.

In Vallikeezhu, an LDF stronghold for 30 years, another law student,  Aarcha KS, is taking on an equally tough fight. A third-year student at NSS Law College, Kottiyam, and a resident of Ramakulangara, Aarcha says the positive response to younger candidates has surprised her. “People want youngsters to step forward. There are so many issues in the corporation limits — water shortage, lack of street lights, and stray dogs. The LDF has mostly favoured its supporters when allotting homes, while many deserving families are left out,” she says.

Her father, who runs a restaurant in Kollam, has been associated with the Congress for years. Aarcha, who grew up accompanying him on campaigns, has long aspired to enter politics. KSU was a stepping stone for her. She was elected the female student representative in her college last year.

Though Vallikeezhu is the LDF’s sitting seat,  Aarcha remains undeterred. All three fronts have fielded new faces in the ward reserved for women this time. “Things need to change here. Waste management is another pressing issue. Streets are littered with waste, including diapers. The system needs a complete overhaul,” she says.

For the Congress, which suffered a heavy defeat in the Kollam Corporation polls five years ago, the 2025 elections are critical. In 2020, the Congress and BJP won six seats each, and with the RSP securing four, the UDF held only 10 members in the 55-member council. This time, with 56 seats in total, the Congress is contesting 38 and the RSP 11.