Former Congress leader Padmaja Venugopal is once again contesting from Thrissur constituency in the 2026 elections, but this time as a BJP candidate.
Padmaja Venugopal is a prominent political activist in Kerala and a former general secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), as well as a leader of the women’s wing of the Congress. She is the daughter of the former Chief Minister of Kerala your. Karunakaran.
After disagreements with the KPCC leadership and Thrissur District Congress Committee since 2021, Padmaja Venugopal left the Congress on 7 March 2024 and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She has been a member of the BJP national council since March 2025 and is again contesting from Thrissur constituency in the 2026 Assembly elections as a BJP candidate.
Read also: Kerala’s Thrissur district is turning into a battleground with the return of Congress MP Rajan J Balan amid a three-cornered fight
5 Key Facts about Padmaja Venugopal
- Padmaja Venugopal was born on 27 October 1960 in Thrissur, to former Kerala Chief Minister K. Karunakaran and Kalyani Kutty Amma, completed her early education in Kerala and later obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kerala University.
- Padmaja joined the Indian National Congress in 1996 and became active in politics in 2001 when she served as chairperson of the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation. She first contested the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from Mukundapuram constituency on a Congress ticket but was defeated.
- She later contested from Thrissur Assembly constituency in both 2016 and 2021 as a Congress candidate. In 2021, she lost by a narrow margin of 946 votes to CPI’s P Balachandran.
- She left the Congress party in March 2024 after disagreements with the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and Thrissur District Congress Committee (DCC). She then joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was elected to its national council in March 2025.
- The Thrissur constituency is set to witness a closely watched triangular contest in the 2026 Assembly elections, with CPI’s Alankode Leelakrishnan representing the LDF, Congress’ Rajan J. Pallan representing the UDF, and Padmaja Venugopal contesting as the BJP’s candidate for the NDA.
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