NDA will play a significant role in forming the next Kerala government, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Kerala state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), predicts that the forthcoming assembly elections will change the state's political landscape. He argues that the BJP’s developmental politics will create an impact on Kerala’s voters who are seeking a change. Fiscal indiscipline and hubris exhibited by the CPM and a visionless campaign by a divided Congress will be punished by the voters this time around, says Chandrasekhar, who was earlier the Minister of State in the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry. A technologist who was part of the architectural team that designed the Intel processor in the US, he feels that Kerala squandered a huge opportunity in getting ahead in IT and Electronics, despite gaining a head start in the 1980s.

In this exclusive interview, Chandrasekhar talks about how the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will play a significant role in the formation of the next government in Kerala, as it looks to change the political landscape in the state. Excerpts:

BJP has been a marginal player in Kerala politics for decades. The United Democratic Front, led by the Congress, and the Left Democratic Front, led by the CPM, continue to hold sway in the state. CPM, under Pinarayi Vijayan, has been in charge of the state for two consecutive terms. In the forthcoming Assembly elections in 2026, do you see a crack in the Communist wall?

I have no reservations in stating that Kerala is stuck in a rut. The CPM government’s response to people’s aspirations has been found wanting. Malayalis have had enough of the kind of politics that essentially is a treadmill of unnecessary controversies that drag the state down and also personal attacks on political rivals.

My feeling is that the voters are looking forward to a shift towards developmental politics. Progress and development were put on the back burner by successive CPM and Congress governments in the last two decades. BJP is putting forward a programme of inclusive development which will enable Malayalis to find work in Kerala. We are providing a fresh alternative to voters who are tired of the politics of CPM and Congress.

From a BJP standpoint, what are your expectations from the forthcoming Assembly elections in Kerala?

There’s a strong anti-CPM sentiment in Kerala, with all their failings in the last five years and beyond. Congress hasn’t proved to be a good alternative for the voters either. I’m extremely confident that the political landscape of Kerala will change with this election. That’s my firm conviction. I’m no political pundit, but I know that NDA will play a significant role in the formation of the next government in Kerala.

Why do you think Kerala is in such a poor financial condition despite the high human index indicators and a well-developed workforce? (the off-budget borrowings rose from ₹4 lakh crore in 2022-23 to over ₹4.33 lakh crore in 2023-24, according to the latest CAG report). There’s a huge outflow of talented youth to other states and countries, enormously depleting the talent pool back home. The huge dependence on foreign remittances continues unabated as well.

Kerala had a head start with its superior human development indices and resultant higher standard of living. Effective policies around land redistribution and focus on education and healthcare gave it early impetus and some of the chief ministers and political leaders back then did a good job. But in the last 20 years, the state missed out on a series of opportunities. Today, the youth are deserting the state in very large numbers. It would soon lead to a crisis.

We all know that talent heads out to find opportunities. The policies of successive governments haven’t helped create jobs in the state and the highly talented workforce in Kerala had to invariably leave the state.

The neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu has around 24-26 lakh industrial workers, while Kerala has around one lakh workers. The debt trap has affected further investments in healthcare and education and the state has reached a dead end financially, in my opinion. The financial indiscipline of the LDF and the UDF is the prime reason.

As you mentioned, Kerala had a head start in the early ‘80s with electronics companies like Keltron leading the charge. But over time, Kerala has lost its innovation edge. As a technologist yourself, how do you view this situation?

Let me tell you an example. I had recently attended a seminar on artificial intelligence (AI) in Singapore and three of the people who presented at the event were Malayalis and all of them were working outside Kerala. The state has some of the best brains in the technological sector, but they don’t have the opportunities to put their talent to use within the state. Kerala has so much untapped potential in IT, electronics, modern agriculture and even high-end tourism. The state has the potential to become the food basket of South India but today we are a net food importer. It’s tragic.

One of the reasons why BJP has not been able to make much progress in the state of Kerala is because of the ‘Hindutva party’ image. How do you plan to fight that?

That’s a carefully developed narrative created by the CPM and the Congress. It has proved to be an effective joint venture, creating a sense of fear of the BJP among minorities. Please judge us by our conduct and track record and let’s have an open discussion in this matter. It’s the other parties that play religious politics, not us.

Let’s take the case of Jamaat-e-Islami. It’s one political party that both CPM and Congress have been working/aligning with. Jamaat-e-Islami has openly said that it does not believe in a secular country. They are all for an Islamic nation. Of course, we’ll challenge such a position. The recent local body elections in Kerala have proved that our position on matters of national security and model of development was right. As a party, we do not believe in appeasement – whether it’s majority or minority appeasement.

What’s BJP’s roadmap for the state? How do you think your party can turn around the state’s fortunes?

Look, we are not claiming that we are magicians or geniuses who can quickly turn around the state of affairs in Kerala. What we can promise is hard work and commitment which would enable Kerala to become a proud, surging economy if we are given the power to do so by the people. We will work towards turning the state into an investment-friendly destination by working on policies that will attract Malayalis back to their state. All those engineers working in Bengaluru, Gurugram and Hyderabad will have the option of returning.

Even Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra had debt concerns. But they surmounted that challenge with fiscal discipline. It’s about having that iron will to progress. UP today has a large number of modern data centres along with a robust electronics manufacturing cluster. If the ruling party has political clarity and a purposeful vision, development will follow.

Look at Karnataka, where the Congress is in charge. Its profligacy has resulted in the state borrowing the maximum this fiscal, of all states in the country. While the CPM is all about slicing the cake so thin that citizens don’t get any benefit to begin with, the Congress is about fattening the cake so much that the top leaders enjoy themselves.