Retired Colonel S Dinny, a familiar face on television debates in Kerala, stepped past a large pothole on a road leading to Kollam MLA Mukesh’s house. Clad in a mundu and shirt, the army veteran and NDA candidate was out canvassing in the Vadakevila ward of the Kollam Corporation.

“The Kollam MLA can’t even get the road to his house fixed. He says it’s outside his jurisdiction. MLA Noushad of the LDF also washes his hands of it. This is exactly why we need change. The BJP guarantees development,” he said. Colonel Dinny, who led a Rajput Regiment battalion in Ladakh, took voluntary retirement from the Army in 2019 after 21 years in the infantry.

His words mirror the party’s wider election strategy in the district: ‘Viksit Kollam’, a local spin on Narendra Modi’s Viksit Bharat campaign. Walk through the Kollam Corporation and the rows of NDA posters tell the same story: the faces differ, but Modi’s smiling portrait and the development slogan remain fixed across every template. And every BJP candidate Onmanorama spoke to repeated the same development pitch, almost in rehearsed unison.

“I just want to help the public improve their lives and solve basic issues like waste management and the stray dog menace. I am a huge fan of the PM’s development initiatives,” says Geetha Dileep, the BJP candidate in Bharanikkavu division. Geetha, who works as an ayah on a private school bus in Kollam, has been with the party for 15 years and is the area committee president.

While development is one prong of the BJP’s strategy, the other is the candidature itself. Often criticised for majoritarian politics, the party has fielded a notably diverse slate in Kollam, including members from minority communities. The list features a retired colonel, a doctor, an assistant professor, a photographer and an ayah on a private school bus.

“This time, we have included candidates with strong educational qualifications and those with practical experience. In the Corporation, we are contesting 55 seats and the BDJS has one. Among our candidates, we have one Muslim and three Christians. We also have a good mix of young and experienced candidates,” S Prasanth, BJP Kollam district president, told Onmanorama.

Can Kollam corporation be another TVM?
In the 2020 polls, the BJP won six seats in the Corporation and two panchayats, a significant improvement from 2015 where the party failed to open account. Notably, the party tied with the Congress at six councillors each in 2020. The LDF, which has ruled the Kollam Corporation since its formation in 2000, won its highest-ever tally of 39 seats in the last election. The BJP also finished second in 16 panchayats, including four ties, out of 68 in Kollam district. In the neighbouring Thiruvananthapuram corporation, BJP catapulted from 6 seats to bag 35 and 34 seats respectively in 2015 and 2020. BJP would want the same in Kollam, but leaders admit it is wishful thinking and they have a reason.

“Thiruvananthapuram has always been a strong base for the BJP. Nemom constituency, which elected a BJP MLA, falls within the Corporation. The party is also the runner-up in most assembly segments under its limits, including Thiruvananthapuram Central and Vattiyoorkavu. In Kollam too, the tide will turn in our favour soon. This time, we are fighting to rule the Corporation. People want development,” said Prasanth.

While Prasanth frames the party’s prospects in terms of shifting voter sentiment and administrative failures, BJP candidates on the ground are banking on hyper-local issues to connect with residents.

Among them is Dr Deepa PS, contesting from Pallimukku, an LDF-held ward. A consultant with Kottakkal Arya Vaidyasala for 25 years, she believes local issues remain decisive. “People look at individual candidates in corporation elections. Here, voters struggle with poor street lighting and waterlogging. We will do what we can to fix these,” she said.

Soorya Surendran, an assistant professor at Younus Kunju College of Engineering and BJP candidate from Ammannada, echoes similar grievances. With 16 years of teaching experience and a long involvement in student politics, she says the gap between claims and ground reality remains stark. “When the LDF government says it has eliminated extreme poverty, we still meet families living in harsh conditions. Many do not get welfare pensions or disability benefits,” she said, adding that several homes in the ward remain unreachable without stepping into ankle-deep water.