Senior BJP leaders of Kerala welcomes Union Home Minister Amit Shah as he addressed the newly elected BJP representatives of the Kerala local body during a party meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) kicked off its campaign in Kerala for the upcoming Assembly elections with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (January 11, 2026) announcing a three point agenda of the party’s campaign – developed Kerala, safe Kerala and protection of faith. Signalling that the alleged theft of gold artefacts at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple will be a key focus of the campaign, he said that the BJP will continue the ongoing protests in every village in Kerala until the State government hands over the investigation to a neutral agency.
He was addressing a conference of the BJP’s elected representatives, who won in various local bodies in Kerala in the recently held elections. Mr. Shah told them that the victory in the local body elections, especially at the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, is the first step towards its ultimate aim of forming a government in the State.
“This change in Kerala is not limited to the urban areas alone. We have won 30 grama panchayats and came second in 79, while also winning the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and two municipalities. Today the BJP has a Mayor in Thiruvananthapuram. Tomorrow we will have a BJP Chief Minister in Kerala. Our victory was built on the sacrifice of thousands of workers who sacrificed their lives or spent years in jail. Our vote share has increased from 11% in 2014 to 16% in 2-19 to 20% in 2024. Now, it won’t take long for 20% to increase to 30 or 40%. It will happen in 2026, just like how we went from two seats in the Lok Sabha in 1984 to being in power for the third successive term. I want to tell Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that it is time for him to go,” he said.
Match-fixing
He accused the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) of being involved in match-fixing to share power between them, which has stunted the State’s development.
“Communist parties have disappeared all over the world. The Congress party is also fading away across the country. Now, only the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) can lead Kerala towards the path of development. He said that instead of remittance-based development, built on the sweat of youth who are toiling outside the State and the country, the BJP promises a comprehensive development programme which will benefit every person in Kerala,” he said.
Mr. Shah said that neither the LDF nor the UDF can protect Kerala from the divisive agenda of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, the Social Democratic Party of India and the Popular Front of India, as they are in alliance with them.
“Both fronts cannot protect Kerala as they have accepted appeasement as a policy. When you accept appeasement as a policy, you cannot give justice to anyone because appeasing someone can be done only by committing injustice to another. The BJP’s policy is justice for all, appeasement to none,” he said.
He said that the wrongs committed at Sabarimala are not just an issue concerning Kerala, but related to the beliefs of people across the country.
“I have seen the FIR, which has loopholes to save some people. Two Ministers are in the eye of suspicion. The UDF also cannot promise a credible investigation as their leaders were seen in photographs with the accused. The investigation should be handed over to a neutral agency,” he said.
‘LDF no longer an option’
BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the LDF will no longer be an option for the people in the Assembly elections, as the fight will be between the NDA and the UDF.
Mr. Shah would chair the party’s core committee meeting at the BJP’s State Headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram later in the day.
Published – January 11, 2026 04:31 pm IST
