Nemom Seat Won’t Return to BJP: Minister Sivankutty

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala General Education Minister and CPI(M) leader V Sivankutty on Wednesday said that the BJP will not be able to regain the Nemom assembly constituency and that the seat has been “sealed” politically.

Speaking to reporters, Sivankutty said it would be extremely difficult for the BJP to win from Nemom again. His comments came after BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar declared that he would contest from Nemom in next year’s assembly elections. Rajeev Chandrasekhar had stated with certainty that he would fight the poll from that constituency.

Nemom holds significance as it is the only assembly seat the BJP has ever won in Kerala. The party entered the state assembly for the first time in 2016 when former Union Minister O Rajagopal won from Nemom. However, in the 2021 assembly election, BJP candidate Kummanam Rajasekharan lost to Sivankutty, and the party failed to retain its presence in the assembly.

Despite this, the BJP continues to consider Nemom one of its most hopeful constituencies for the upcoming polls. Commenting on these expectations, Sivankutty said the “BJP’s account has been closed in Nemom in a way that cannot be reopened” and reiterated that winning the seat again would be very challenging for the party.