India, Dec. 26 -- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state secretary V V Rajesh was on Friday elected as the Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram, days after the party registered its maiden victory in the city's municipal corporation, marking a historic political shift in Kerala's capital.

The BJP had announced Rajesh as its mayoral candidate on Thursday for the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, a civic body the party had never governed before. Rajesh was backed by 50 BJP councillors and one Independent, enabling the party to clinch the mayoral post.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has emerged as the single largest bloc in the corporation, ending the Left's uninterrupted 45-year rule over the civic body in the Kerala capital.

The outcome...