Published Mar 16, 2026 | 2:05 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 16, 2026 | 2:32 PM
CC Mukundan joined the BJP on 16 March after the CPI had denied him a ticket.
Synopsis: The CPI decided to field Geetha Gopi in Nattika, instead of its sitting MLA, CC Mukundan. Disgruntled, Mukunadan decided to contest as an Independent and sought the Congress party’s support in vain. On Monday, he joined the BJP.
Former CPI leader and sitting MLA from Nattika CC Mukundan joined the BJP on Monday, 16 March.
He went to the BJP district committee office in Thrissur in the afternoon, where he was accorded a warm welcome.
Mukundan was at loggerheads with the CPI ever since the party decided to field Geetha Gopi from Nattika in the 9 April elections to the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
After being denied a ticket, Mukunadan announced his decision to contest as an Independent candidate. He was expelled from the party after his allegation that Nattika was a “payment seat”, implying that Gopi had purchased it.
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Mukundan earlier tried to get the Congress’s support, but the party nominated Sunil Lalur as its candidate. Mukundan had travelled to Delhi, seeking Congress’s backing.
CC Mukundan.
However, the party concluded that a split in the LDF vote would benefit the UDF. The former CPI MLA, however, said he would seek the people’s mandate irrespective of whether the UDF decides to back him.
Mukundan had earlier ruled out having any truck with the BJP, but softened his stance after both the LDF and UDF refused to support him.
The Aam Aadmi Party, too, held talks with Mukundan. However, he decided to join the BJP, which may field him in Nattika.
After joining the BJP, Mukundan alleged that the CPI denied him a party ticket because he did not raise funds for the leadership.
Speaking to the media, Mukundan said he would reveal more details during the election campaign.
He added that he was impressed by the BJP’s approach towards the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and felt the party could do more work in that sector.
Mukundan made it clear that he would be active in the electoral field and would respond politically to those who had “mistreated” him.
A few hours before Mukundan joined the BJP, the party’s state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in Thiruvananthapuram that the NDA would announce its candidates for polls in the next two days.
The list will include nominees from both the BJP and its allies.
Chandrasekhar said the alliance was in the final stages of shortlisting candidates and would soon announce them.
Incidentally, several leaders from other parties joined the BJP. They included former KPCC secretary Thodiyoor Ramachandran, Meditrina Hospitals MD Dr Pratap Kumar, NCP leader Prof Devaprasad Johnson and former CPI(M) councillor Rasheed from Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram.
He said the NDA would campaign with a development-focused vision of a Viksit Kerala and accused both the ruling LDF and the opposition UDF of poor governance and diverting public attention from key issues.
