BJP Names Sonia Gandhi As Their Candidate From Nallathanni Ward For Panchayat Polls In Kerala's Munnar

A 34-year-old BJP candidate in Munnar, also named Sonia Gandhi, is contesting the local panchayat election against Congress and CPI(M) rivals. Named after the Congress leader by her father, she later joined the BJP after marrying a local party functionary. Her unexpected candidacy has sparked curiosity ahead of Kerala’s two-phase local body polls on 9 and 11 December.

Sonia Gandhi is standing for a panchayat seat in Munnar, Kerala, and yes, that is her real name. Even more striking, she is contesting as a BJP candidate, creating an unusual political twist with a Congress link woven into her personal history. 

According to a report by the Kottayam-based Manorama, the BJP has nominated Sonia Gandhi for the Nallathanni ward (Ward 16) of the Munnar panchayat. She is, of course, not the Congress MP Sonia Gandhi, but a 34-year-old local resident, Sonia Gandhi of Nallathanni Kallar, whose life story has unfolded in a markedly different manner.

Her father, the late Dure Raj, a labourer and Congress worker, chose the name out of admiration for the then Congress president. For years, her name was an interesting anecdote in the quiet hills of Idukki.

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Marriage, however, altered her political journey. Sonia’s husband, Subhash, serves as the BJP panchayat general secretary and had previously contested a by-election from Old Munnar Mulakkad, as noted in the Manorama report. Gradually, Sonia herself shifted towards the BJP, stepping away from the name’s Congress associations and embracing new political loyalties.

Now entering her first major electoral contest, she faces Manjula Ramesh of the Congress and Valarmati of the CPI(M). Thus, in a curious turn, Munnar finds a BJP candidate named after one of Congress’s most prominent leaders competing directly against a Congress nominee.

Kerala’s panchayat and local body elections will be held in two phases on 9 and 11 December across 941 gram panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 87 municipalities and six corporations.

The region is not entirely unfamiliar with the Congress leadership. About 200 kilometres north lies Wayanad, represented in the Lok Sabha by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, while her brother Rahul Gandhi held the same seat in the previous Parliament.

BJP’s Sonia Gandhi is one of more than 75,000 candidates contesting over 21,000 wards, representing major alliances including the Left Democratic Front (LDF), United Democratic Front (UDF) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The State Election Commission will count the votes on 13 December.

Whether Sonia Gandhi’s name will prove advantageous for the BJP or simply confuse the electorate is yet to be seen. What is certain is that this election has handed Munnar a tale it is unlikely to forget any time soon.