For the BJP, which won a massive victory in Bengal, a blip of hope in Kerala is being seen as another starting point to build up in the southern state, where it otherwise remains a distant player behind the Congress-led UDF that defeated the CPI(M)-led LDF this time.
The Centre’s ruling party won three seats in the Kerala assembly of 140, and has since planned a 13-point political agenda that it said would shape its strategy in the state ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections of 2029.
The Hindutva-driven party’s agenda places a focus on consolidating support among backward communities within the Hindu fold, while also seeking to dial down its earlier outreach to minority groups, particularly Christians.
Kerala is one of India’s most diverse states religiously, with Hindus comprising about 55% of the population, Muslims around 27%, and Christians roughly 18%. That’s a level of minority presence far exceeding the national composition of approximately 80% Hindu, 14% Muslim, and 2% Christian. This has meant a tougher terrain for the RSS-BJP ecosystem that speaks of a “Hindu nation” and Hindutva as a “cultural identity”.
Focus on backward classes within Hindus
BJP’s new agenda is part of a political resolution adopted at its state core committee meeting on Saturday, news agency PTI reported on Sunday. The meeting was chaired by state unit president Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
According to sources cited by PTI, the party’s document does not explicitly outline fresh outreach initiatives towards minority communities. Particularly with Christians, the party had made attempts to build closer ties ahead of the assembly elections held in April.
However, it has now moved away from attempts to build institutional bridges with Church leadership, amid growing alignment of bishops with the Congress-led UDF, the source was quoted as saying.
This shift, sort of informal, followed the Catholic Church’s strong opposition to the Centre’s move to introduce the contentious Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) Amendment Bill, 2026, in Parliament, according to party insiders.
This bill, aimed at regulating and potentially choking foreign fund inflow to Indian organisations, put the BJP on the defensive during the Kerala election campaign.
Reservation a key play
At the same time, the BJP’s new agenda places sharper emphasis on Hindu backward communities, particularly through its position on OBC reservation.
The party plans to stress that OBC quota should not lead to any religious reservation, such as for Muslims who may be counted among backward.
The resolution, as per the news agency report, said “religious reservation under the guise of OBC reservation should be completely abolished”, and that reservation policies should be restricted to OBC, SC/ST and EWS categories.
Among Hindus, the party is learnt to be as attempting to strengthen its outreach to key social groups, including the numerically significant Ezhava community, which remains a crucial support base for the state’s two major Left parties, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India.
What Chandrasekhar said
The party resolution further stated that no group should receive preferential treatment through “appeasement” — an allegation centred around the Congress and Left’s alleged preferential treatment of Muslims — and stressed the need for equal opportunities for all Malayalis.
“The BJP will not allow backward class reservation to be turned into religion-based reservation,” Chandrasekhar said, highlighting the issue as part of the party’s efforts to further expand its outreach among backward Hindu communities.
“If the state government, under pressure from the Muslim League and Jamaat-e-Islami, adopts appeasement politics, the BJP will strongly oppose it,” Chandrasekhar said.
Core Hindutva position
The resolution further reiterated the party’s core Hindutva positioning by raising the Sabarimala temple-entry issue, and calling for an audit of temple properties and assets.
The party called for legal action in connection with the alleged “Sabarimala gold looting”, sought a CBI probe, and demanded the withdrawal of all cases registered during the protests against women’s entry to Sabarimala.
The BJP also called for an audit of temple properties and assets, stronger investment in schools and colleges, and measures to protect children from the influence of “religious fundamentalist organisations, terrorist organisations, and drugs”.
What numbers say
The party termed itself a “third alternative” to the CPI(M)-led LDF and Congress-led UDF, claiming that voters accepted the rise of a new political force.
In its post-poll assessment, the party said the BJP-led NDA won three constituencies, finished second in six others, and secured around 30 lakh votes in Kerala.
Despite winning three seats, the BJP did not record a significant increase in vote share — 11.4% in 2026 against 11.3% in 2021 — well short of its 20% target to emerge as an alternative for now. The wins came through state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Nemom (by 4,978 votes), V Muraleedharan in Kazhakootam (by 428 votes), and BB Gopakumar in Chathannoor (by 4,398 votes).
The BJP had polled 16.68% in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and 14.6% in the 2025 local body polls.
In 2016, O Rajagopal won Nemom, becoming the first BJP MLA in Kerala’s history. In 2021, it lost that lone seat and suffered a dip in vote share, leaving the party with zero seats. The 2026 result of three seats on about the same vote share as 2021 showed the BJP’s votes are gradually consolidating in pockets.
The BJP state leadership expressed gratitude to voters across the state, saying their support had helped the NDA achieve what it described as a significant milestone in its growth in Kerala.
The Congress-led UDF swept to power with 102 of 140 seats, marking the alliance’s strongest mandate since 1977, ending a decade of LDF rule. Congress alone won 63 seats, while the IUML took 22. The LDF was reduced to 35, with 13 sitting ministers losing their seats.
