Former Kerala DGP R Sreelekha resigns as Thiruvananthapuram councillor

BJP state vice-president and former DGP R Sreelekha has resigned as councillor of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation. She submitted her resignation to Mayor V V Rajesh and cited personal reasons for the decision. Sreelekha had earlier expressed disappointment over not being chosen as mayor after the party won the civic body control in the December local body elections.

Council Numbers

The 101-member corporation council has 50 NDA councillors, and the party has been ruling with the support of an independent. With Sreelekha resigning from the Sasthamangalam ward, the BJP-led alliance strength drops to 49, placing the party's governance in a precarious position. The BJP has started conciliation talks with Sreelekha to save the party-led corporation.

Context

Sreelekha joined the BJP in October 2024 after retiring in 2020 as director general of the Kerala Fire and Rescue Service, having served as Kerala's first woman IPS officer and the first woman officer in the state to attain the DGP rank. The BJP-led NDA won the December local body elections in Thiruvananthapuram, ending the CPI(M)-led LDF's 45-year run in the municipal corporation.