‘I’m a Modi Bhakt, won’t quit BJP’: R Sreelekha addresses resignation rumours

Former Kerala DGP and BJP state vice-president R Sreelekha has compared her experience as a municipal councillor to a police chief being asked to perform a constable’s duties. She made these remarks while explaining why she had previously indicated she would resign from the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. She is currently the councillor for the Vattiyoorkavu ward in the Corporation.In a video posted on Sunday, October 11, Sreelekha blamed delays in addressing civic complaints, alleged lack of cooperation from officials, and mounting public pressure for her intervention in civic issues.In a video on her YouTube channel, Sasneham Sreelekha, the former police chief said she had written to Mayor VV Rajesh on September 30, warning that she would resign if the problems she raised were not addressed. Her explanation comes after the resignation controversy triggered efforts by the BJP leadership to persuade her to stay on as councillor.Sreelekha, however, insisted that she had not quit the BJP and would remain in the party for life, while alleging that the media had been targeting her since she joined the party in October 2024.“There were rampant media reports that I resigned and left the party. Luckily, I did not see them; I was in hospital,” she said. “I have not resigned from the party. I will remain in the BJP proudly till my death. I will not go to any party. I am a Modi bhakt.”Sreelekha's account of her difficulties as a councillor comes against the backdrop of her disappointment over not being chosen as mayor after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won control of the Corporation in December 2025, ending the CPI(M)-led LDF's 45-year run. She had earlier said she contested the election expecting to become mayor, but the party chose VV Rajesh for the post.Now, explaining why she found the councillor's job difficult, Sreelekha invoked her former rank in the police force.“When a DGP is asked to do the job of a police constable, the DGP will struggle a lot. If an Army General is asked to do the job of a sepoy and guard the borders, it will be difficult for him too. Bearing all these difficulties, I contested as a councillor and am doing the job,” she said.The comparison was part of her explanation for the challenges she said she faced in dealing with citizen’s' complaints. According to Sreelekha, people approach her with problems ranging from family disputes and passport-related issues to land boundary disagreements, but she is unable to intervene effectively in many cases.“I am a very sincere person. If I don’t do things properly, that haunts me,” she said, adding that police no longer listen to her.She also alleged that requests for basic civic works, including street lights and roads, were taking too long to be addressed. Sreelekha said she had sent 12 or 13 letters to Mayor Rajesh, who, she acknowledged, had his own limitations and forwarded the complaints to the relevant sections.“The clerks and officers in these sections might be followers of the party that ruled the corporation for the last 45 years, so they might not do anything on a letter written by a BJP councillor,” she alleged.Sreelekha also cited inadequate facilities in Vattiyoorkkavu and damaged equipment in her office as factors that made her work more difficult. She said the expectation that every complaint would be resolved immediately added to the pressure, particularly when delays prompted residents to react angrily.On September 30, she wrote to the Mayor, warning that she would resign if the situation did not improve, and marked a copy to the District Collector. She subsequently fell ill, with doctors advising her to take two months' rest.But taking leave, she said, was not practical because of the paperwork and other responsibilities attached to the councillor's position. She therefore decided to continue as a party worker and informed members of a WhatsApp group, where residents had been raising complaints, that she had submitted her resignation.The announcement prompted senior BJP leaders to intervene. Sreelekha said they met her, consoled her, and told her that the party needed her.“So I am here, working peacefully now,” she said.The 101-member Thiruvananthapuram Corporation council has 50 NDA councillors, and the alliance governs with the support of an independent member. The BJP leadership had maintained that Sreelekha had not resigned, despite reports that she had submitted a resignation letter to the Mayor. ‘Raid madam’ to BJP councillor: The story of Kerala’s Sreelekha IPS