CPI MLA C Mukundan joins BJP after being denied ticket in Kerala
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Thiruvananthapuram: In a significant political development in Kerala, sitting legislator C. Mukundan from the Communist Party of India (CPI) joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday after being denied a party ticket for the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections, The Indian Express reported.
Mukundan, who currently represents the Nattika Assembly constituency in Kerala, made the switch shortly after the CPI decided not to re-nominate him for the polls.
He is considered a Dalit face within the CPI, and an ally of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF). The CPI instead nominated Geetha Gopi as its candidate for the Nattika constituency.
Following the decision, Mukundan alleged that the party had turned the constituency into a “payment seat”. He claimed that, despite being a first-time legislator, he was overlooked because he was unable to mobilise funds for the party. In response to these allegations, the CPI expelled him from its ranks.
Before joining the BJP, Mukundan reportedly approached the Indian National Congress seeking support to contest as a United Democratic Front-backed independent candidate, but the party declined to back his bid.
After discussions with BJP leaders, Mukundan formally took party membership at the BJP’s district office in Thrissur on Monday.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, Mukundan had defeated Congress candidate Sunil Laloor in the Nattika constituency.
His move comes weeks after another former CPI legislator, K. Ajith, joined the BJP. Ajith, who represented the Vaikom Assembly constituency (SC reserved seat) for two terms from 2006, had cited the Left Democratic Front’s alleged failure to address issues faced by the Dalit community in the state.