Published Mar 20, 2026 | 7:26 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 20, 2026 | 7:29 PM
Shaji V. Joseph being welcomed to BJP
Synopsis: Shaji V Joseph, brother of Kerala PCC president Sunny Joseph, has joined the BJP weeks before the assembly polls, taking the Congress by surprise. A long-time Congress worker, he had recently attended BJP events led by Rajeev Chandrasekhar and later said he was drawn by Narendra Modi’s “development politics”.
Shaji V Joseph, the brother of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph, has formally joined the BJP, taking the Grand Old Party by surprise just weeks ahead of the assembly polls.
The induction took place at a public function in Puthiyatheru in Kannur on Friday, 20 March, where Rajya Sabha MP Sadanand Shet Thanavade handed Shaji the party membership. BJP Kannur North district president KK Vinod Kumar, who is contesting from Azhikode, was also on stage.
Shaji’s move from the Congress comes weeks after he raised eyebrows by attending a BJP “mega adalat” in Mambaram and later in Dharmadam, both led by Kerala BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar. At the time, he brushed away questions about whether he was considering joining the party.
A long-time Congress worker who began his public life in the KSU and later served as a Youth Congress and Ulikkal constituency leader, Shaji said he was “drawn by Narendra Modi’s development politics” after his induction.
He also took a dig at the Congress, calling it “anti-development policies and communal appeasement”, but said there were no personal differences with his brother Sunny Joseph and that he had the “ideological freedom” to join the BJP.
Shaji had earlier said that if the children of Congress stalwarts like K Karunakaran and AK Antony could join the BJP, there was no reason he could not follow suit.
Curiously, he said his repeated attempts to secure the party’s intervention for a gas agency licence went nowhere, even after he approached his brother, which led him to the BJP.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
