In A First For Kerala, Jailed BJP Councillor Takes Oath Inside Prison

In an unprecedented ceremony, R Sugathan, BJP councillor of Kerala's Vazhottukonam ward in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, took the oath of office inside Viyyur Central Prison on Monday.

The oath was administered following a Kerala High Court directive, with Sugathan remaining in judicial custody under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, or KAAPA.

Thiruvananthapuram Mayor VV Rajesh administered the oath in the library hall of the prison. Deputy Mayor PK Asha Nath, prison officials and other authorities were present. This is the first time in Kerala's history that an elected public representative has been sworn in inside a prison.

"We came to Thrissur to implement the direction of the honourable High Court. The High Court had ordered that Vazhottukonam ward councillor R Sugathan take oath again in the presence of officials from the corporation, the jail superintendent and the Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram. Along with the Deputy Mayor and our standing committee chairman, we have completed the order of the honourable High Court," Mayor VV Rajesh told NDTV.

The unusual arrangement followed a chain of legal complications. 

#WATCH | Keralam | Thiruvananthapuram BJP councillor R. Sugathan, who is under six-month preventive detention under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA), retook his oath of office, inside the Viyyur Central Jail in Thrissur

The oath was administered by… pic.twitter.com/vMj2Ayfuf8

— ANI (@ANI) July 14, 2026

Sugathan's earlier oath, administered in the name of deities, was invalidated by the High Court. Before he could retake it, he was detained under KAAPA. When he moved the High Court seeking bail to complete the swearing-in, the court declined bail but directed that the oath be administered inside the prison itself.

The oath, however, does not end Sugathan's troubles. He remains in jail as bail has not been granted in the KAAPA case. Under municipal rules, he has already missed two council meetings, and absence from a third consecutive meeting could lead to his disqualification as councillor.

The prison ceremony has also drawn political fire, with both the Congress and the CPI(M) alleging that the episode has embarrassed the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.

Responding to the criticism, the Mayor said the opposition had been protesting from the start. 

"The opposition has been raising slogans from day one. When the ruling team took oath, the opposition started their agitations and slogans. That is how democracy works. I respect the actions of the opposition leaders, and we are fully confident that we can go strongly for the coming five years," he told NDTV.

In December 2025, the BJP scripted history by wresting control of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, ending 45 years of uninterrupted CPI(M)-led LDF rule in the state capital and winning a Mayor's post in Kerala for the first time. But the victory rests on razor-thin arithmetic.

The BJP won 50 seats in the 101-member council, one short of a simple majority, and Mayor VV Rajesh was elected with 51 votes only after independent councillor P Radhakrishnan extended support. 

This is why Sugathan's fate matters far beyond his ward. If he is disqualified for missing three consecutive council meetings, the BJP's strength drops to 49 elected councillors, leaving the ruling front entirely dependent on independent support and exposed to a by-election in Vazhottukonam that the LDF and UDF would contest as a referendum on the new administration. 

For the BJP defending its first and only corporation in Kerala, every single seat is the difference between governing and losing the fort it just captured.