{"id":197996,"date":"2026-04-07T19:12:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/?p=197996"},"modified":"2026-04-07T19:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:13:08","slug":"kerala-bjp-candidates-communally-motivated-remarks-spark-row-ec-seeks-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/04\/07\/kerala-bjp-candidates-communally-motivated-remarks-spark-row-ec-seeks-report.html","title":{"rendered":"Kerala BJP candidate\u2019s communally motivated remarks spark row, EC seeks report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Thiruvananthapuram: BJP leader and Kerala Assembly poll candidate PK Krishnadas has sparked a political row over his controversial \u201clove-jihad\u201d remarks during an election campaign, prompting the Election Commission to direct the Thiruvananthapuram district collector to submit a report.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Krishnadas, campaigning in Kattakada, claimed that a victory for either the Left Democratic Front (LDF) or the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the state elections would lead to incidents of \u201clove jihad\u201d in Kerala. He further alleged that organisations such as the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Jamaat-e-Islami would influence or control any government formed by the LDF or UDF.

Krishnadas also claimed that girls from Hindu and Christian families would be targeted and \u201crecruited under the guise of \u2018love jihad\u2019 for anti-national activities in Kerala.\u201d He added: \u201cWhen fronts led by Marxists and Congress come to power, who will actually control the government? It will be Pakistan-friendly anti-national groups.\u201d

The remarks sparked a major political row in the state. Kerala Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar directed the Thiruvananthapuram district collector to examine the Krishnadas\u2019s speech and submit a report. The SDPI Kattakada constituency committee has also filed a police complaint, calling the statements \u201ccommunally motivated hate speech.\u201d

Responding to the backlash, Krishnadas defended his remarks, asserting that his views were consistent with the BJP\u2019s ideological position. He said he would respond legally if the poll body seeks an explanation.

The comments follow earlier controversial statements by BJP leaders during the Kerala campaign. Indian Minister Shobha Karandlaje alleged the state was witnessing not only \u201clove jihad\u201d but also \u201cbusiness jihad\u201d and \u201cland jihad,\u201d while BJP candidate and former DGP R. Sreelekha also referenced \u201clove jihad,\u201d which critics said attempts to disrupt Kerala\u2019s religious harmony.

Kerala will hold its Assembly elections in a single phase on Thursday, with counting scheduled for May 4.

It is noteworthy that making Islamophobic remarks have become a recurring feature of BJP election campaigns, both at the state and national levels. Party leaders often resort to spreading fear and communal narratives to polarize voters along religious lines. The objective is to consolidate the Hindu vote by portraying Muslims and Muslim organizations as threats to India, while stoking communal tensions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thiruvananthapuram: BJP leader and Kerala Assembly poll candidate PK Krishnadas has sparked a political row over his controversial \u201clove-jihad\u201d remarks during an election campaign, prompting the Election Commission to direct the Thiruvananthapuram district collector to submit a report. According to Kashmir Media Service, Krishnadas, campaigning in Kattakada, claimed that a victory for either the Left …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":197995,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/04\/fb_img_17755710753562660869326607699650.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197996"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197997,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197996\/revisions\/197997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}