Just months before critical local elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Thiruvananthapuram finds itself embroiled in a deepening controversy. This follows the suspected suicide of K. Anil Kumar, a prominent councillor representing the Thirumala ward. Initial reports suggest that a severe financial crisis within a cooperative society, which he chaired, might have driven him to this tragic act.
Initially, the BJP had pointed fingers at the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and the Thampanoor police, accusing them of harassment and abetment to suicide. However, the situation dramatically shifted when a purported death note from the councillor came to light. The letter reportedly revealed that the Valiyasala Farm Tour Society, under BJP control, was grappling with a significant financial shortfall due to outstanding debts. A particularly contentious line in the note, stating that the society had also assisted ‘our people’ who were delayed in their repayments, ignited accusations from the CPI(M) that Kumar was implicitly blaming his own party members.
V. Joy, the CPI(M) district secretary, wasted no time in asserting that several BJP leaders had allegedly siphoned substantial funds from the society for personal use, failing to repay them, which he claimed directly contributed to the councillor’s tragic death. Seizing the moment, the CPI(M) swiftly escalated the councillor’s death into a widespread political campaign against the BJP throughout the city’s wards.
In response, senior BJP leader V. Muraleedharan challenged the interpretation of ‘our people,’ arguing that a public representative’s statement couldn’t automatically be construed as an accusation against his own party. Nevertheless, internal sources reveal growing dissatisfaction among some BJP councillors regarding the leadership’s handling of the crisis. This tragic event delivers a significant blow to the BJP, which, with its 35 councillors in the 100-member council, had been meticulously planning an ambitious campaign to seize control of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation in the upcoming elections.