Among the BJP’s three elected MLAs in the Kerala Assembly, Chathannoor legislator B B Gopakumar has been appointed the leader of the BJP’s legislature party. Gopakumar emerged as the party’s choice ahead of heavyweights Rajeev Chandrasekhar and V Muraleedharan, both former Union ministers, who were elected from Nemom and Kazhakkoottam respectively.
Although more than two weeks had elapsed since the election results were declared, with the Assembly electing its Speaker in the interim, the BJP only announced its legislature party leader on Wednesday, just ahead of the new Assembly’s first session that is set to begin on Friday with Governor Rajendra Arlekar’s address.
“My selection has surprised me. I came to know only when Chandrasekhar (who is also the state BJP president) informed me. I will be the voice of the BJP in the Kerala Assembly. It is a big honour for me,” Gopakumar said.
Gopakumar, who won from the Left stronghold of Chathannoor by more than 4,000 votes in the recent polls, was one of the dark horses of the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections. Last week, he had also thrown his hat into the ring for the Assembly Speaker’s post. A retired school headmaster, Gopakumar had joined the BJP a decade ago through the party’s “missed call” membership drive.
Chathannoor, which has been held by the CPI in consecutive polls since 2006, was among the seats where RSS workers had been deployed at the grassroots level, leading to Gopakumar’s unexpected victory. Gopakumar also drew support as a prominent face of the Hindu Ezhava community, which forms around 45% of the constituency’s electorate. The Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam of the Ezhava community and Nair Service Society (NSS) have strong footprints in the seat.
A former Congress worker, when Gopakumar fought the 2016 Assembly election from Chathannoor, the BJP only managed a vote share of 24.92%. In 2021, contesting Chathannoor again, he raised the BJP’s vote share to 30.61%. In 2026, Gopakumar defeated the CPI’s R Rajendran while garnering 38.54% of the vote. Gopakumar, who had earlier served as BJP Kollam district president, had remained active in the constituency over the last decade.
Gopakumar said the Chathanoor model could be replicated in all seats in Kerala, where the stakes for the BJP have been high in both Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
BJP sources said Gopakumar’s elevation as the leader of the legislature party should be seen as the “growing sway” of the RSS in party matters. In 2016, Gopakumar was fielded in the Assembly polls with the RSS’s backing. In the recent Assembly elections, too, the RSS played a crucial role in his electioneering. The organisation wanted to recognise a leader who rose through the ranks, sources said.
Between the party’s three Kerala MLAs, Gopakumar is a “safer choice” as legislature party leader for the BJP as the move will help consolidate the party in the state and shift its focus to the Kollam district, where Chathannoor is located. With the party coming to power in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation last December and winning two other Assembly seats – Nemom and Kazhakoottam – in the Thiruvananthapuram district, the BJP now wants to target the neighbouring Kollam district to expand its sphere of influence.
“These victories are significant because they were all Left-held seats. Kollam is another Left citadel,” said a Kerala BJP leader, signalling that the party’s focus will be to gain ground where the Left has traditionally been dominant.
With the BJP keen on reaching out to minorities, Muraleedharan’s public statements targeting Muslims after the elections did not go down well with the state leaders. Muraleedharan has repeatedly raised concerns over the influence of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government.
Muraleedharan, one of the senior most among the state’s BJP leaders who have more experience in the party and in its ideological parent RSS, is expected to be given responsibility in BJP national president Nitin Nabin’s central team, sources said.
“Gopakumar is a classic example that the party can show off to other karyakartas – he is someone who came up through the ranks in politics. His elevation will show to others that if you work hard, the party will honour you with positions,” said a source.
Gopakumar’s age also was a factor. While Muraleedharan is 67 years old, Gopakumar is 60 and has more experience working in the party and organisation.
