Nineteen BJP councillors of Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation were sworn in again on Wednesday after Kerala High Court invalidated their earlier oath-taking for diverging from the prescribed legal format.
One councillor, Sugathan, could not participate in the ceremony as he is lodged in Viyyur Central Jail after being booked under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act.
The high court had asked the Kerala BJP leadership to retake the oath within four weeks, but the party leadership hurriedly arranged the fresh oath-taking ceremony at the corporation's council hall at 4.30pm on Wednesday, catching everyone unawares.
CPM councillor S.P. Deepak, who had approached the high court to invalidate the oath of 20 councillors, told The Telegraph that neither he nor the other councillors were informed about the second swearing-in ceremony.
"Why the haste when the court had given them four weeks to retake the oath? According to the law, councillors, the general public and the media should be informed about the swearing-in. I have written a letter to the state government highlighting the discrimination shown to the councillors," Deepak said.
The councillors were elected in the December 2025 local body polls, in which the BJP won 51 of the 101 wards. A total of 19 councillors took oath in the name of Bharat Mata, political martyrs, social reformer Sreenarayana Guru and various other deities.
On Wednesday, Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan of the high court ruled that elected representatives under the Kerala Municipality Act and the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act can take oath only "in the name of God" or by making a solemn affirmation, as stipulated in the statutes, without elaboration or addition.
The court noted that though the term "god" was not specifically defined in the relevant statutes, the law clearly prescribed the manner in which the oath was to be administered.