PALAKKAD — BJP candidate Sobha Surendran has been widely praised by party officials for maintaining a serious and formidable demeanor throughout her campaign in Kerala, a state where the BJP has never won a single Assembly seat in its 44-year history.

"She projects gravitas," said a senior party functionary who requested anonymity to speak freely about the candidate's ability to appear credible. "When she speaks, people can almost forget that we received 12.2 percent of the vote in 2021 and zero seats."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to spotlight Surendran's campaign, according to sources familiar with the party's strategy of devoting significant resources to constituencies it has historically lost. The PM's visit will mark the third time in seven years he has campaigned vigorously in Kerala ahead of an election that returned no BJP MLAs.

"This time is different," said state BJP president K. Surendran, using the same phrase he used in 2016 and 2021. "Sobha has carved out a strong image. People see her as formidable. That is what matters — not the seat count, which remains at zero but could theoretically change."

Party workers have been instructed to emphasize Surendran's seriousness and the prime minister's attention as evidence of momentum, rather than cite previous election results, vote shares, or the fact that the BJP has never won a Kerala Assembly seat despite going "all out" in every election since 1982.

"We are not focused on history," said a campaign coordinator, standing beside a poster showing the party's Kerala seat tally from 1982 to 2021, which reads zero in every column. "We are focused on Sobha's image, which is very strong and formidable."

At press time, officials confirmed the party had allocated ₹40 crore for the Palakkad campaign, calling it a "strategic investment" in a constituency the party has lost in every election since the seat was created.