The BJP has continued to reach out to Kerala but has managed to gain little foothold. The state, which will go to the polls on April 26, has seen a rise in the BJP’s vote share, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party hopes to register its first Lok Sabha election victory this year.

Manisha Pande and Dhanya Rajendran spoke to journalists Aby Tharakan and Binu Karunakaran, and content creator Anusha Andrews, to understand why it’s taking so long for the BJP to gain popularity in the southern state.

With films such as The Kerala Story, the BJP has been propelling narratives that can help it reach out to the Christian minority. “We were angry at the bad Malayali accent,” says Anusha.

Manisha and Dhanya also discuss how chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is seen as a strongman in the state, the infighting within the anti-BJP alliance, the issues that matter to Kerala’s voters, and how the BJP is allying with right-wing Christian forces on planks such as “love jihad”.

Watch.

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