Sat Nov 15 14:13:35 UTC 2025: Here’s a news article summarizing the provided text:
NDA Coalition Averts Rift, Announces Kochi Corporation Election Candidates
KOCHI, India – November 15, 2025 – A potential fracture within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has been avoided after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) agreed to allocate 13 seats to its alliance partner, the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), for the upcoming Kochi Corporation elections. The corporation has 76 seats in total.
Union Minister of State George Kurian unveiled the NDA’s second list of candidates on Saturday, with representatives from the BDJS present. The BDJS has already declared nine of its candidates and will soon announce the remaining four. The Shiv Sena has also declared its single candidate.
The BJP added 16 more names to its roster, bringing their total declared candidates to 46. This supplements the 30 candidates announced earlier. The NDA alliance partners, Kerala Congress (Nationalist) and the National People’s Party (NPP), had declared one candidate each, one more seat is likely to be allotted to Kerala Congress(Nationalist) and one to the Lok Janashakti Party. This will leave BJP with the remaining 12 candidates and bring its final tally to 58.
Kurian expressed confidence that the local body polls would reflect a growing national support for the NDA.
Notable developments include the departure of six-time BJP councilor Shyamala S. Prabhu, who will contest as an Independent, as well as the induction of two sitting United Democratic Front councilors. Joshi Kaithavalappil, president of the parent-teacher association at St. Rita’s Public School, is also running as an NPP candidate. The school was recently in the news due to a hijab controversy.
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