KOCHI: The BJP’s beautiful victory in Thiruvananthapuram has raised a brand new query: might Kerala’s first girl IPS officer, R Sreelekha, develop into the saffron get together’s first Mayor within the state capital? With simply days to go earlier than she turns 65, the highlight is on Sreelekha, who gained from the Sasthamangalam division of the Thiruvananthapuram Company. The BJP-led NDA ended 45 years of steady Left rule within the metropolis, attaining a historic breakthrough within the just-concluded native physique polls. Vote counting for the two-phased elections, held earlier this week, was taken up on Saturday. Of the 101 wards in Thiruvananthapuram Company, the BJP gained 50, the CPI(M)-led LDF 29, the Congress-led UDF 19, and two had been taken by unbiased candidates, in accordance with information company PTI. Sreelekha has been projected because the BJP-led NDA’s face for the mayoral put up, a key precedence for the saffron get together which made a uncommon electoral push in a state lengthy dominated by Congress and Left-led blocs. Responding to reporters, she thanked voters for the help. “I’ve come to know that no candidate has secured such a lead within the Sasthamangalam ward earlier than….we thank the individuals for the decision,” she stated. On whether or not she would develop into Mayor, she added, “The get together would resolve on the matter.” Born and introduced up in Thiruvananthapuram, Sreelekha grew to become Kerala’s first girl IPS officer in January 1987. Her profession spanned greater than three many years, throughout which she headed police models in a number of districts and served within the CBI, the Kerala Crime Department, Vigilance, the Fireplace Pressure, Motor Autos Division, and the Jail Division. In 2017, she grew to become Kerala’s first girl Director Common of Police. She retired in December 2020, concluding over 33 years of public service. Sreelekha has remained within the information after retirement, significantly for her feedback claiming actor Dileep was falsely implicated within the 2017 actress sexual assault case. She additionally courted controversy by questioning the delay in submitting a sexual harassment criticism in opposition to expelled Congress chief Rahul Mamkootathil. She joined the BJP in October 2024, saying she was influenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “After taking the oath as a police officer, I by no means had any political ideas and had labored with none political bias,” she stated. With the BJP breaching a Left fortress in Thiruvananthapuram after greater than 4 many years, all eyes are actually on whether or not Sreelekha might be entrusted with the historic mayoral duty.

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