Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gears up to uproot the Left from its bastion, the lone BJP MLA in Kerala Assembly seems to have given up any such hopes.

"I don't think BJP is coming to power in Kerala in the near future", said O Rajagopal, BJP MLA from Kerala.

He said this while raising the issue of rising unemployment.

"BJP is not ruling Kerala. It has never been in power and I don't see any possibilities of it coming to power in the near future. But, unemployment in Kerala is very high. Many people from Kerala have to migrate to other places in search of a job, this is the reality", he said inside the state legislative assembly.

The BJP leadership in Kerala is yet to respond on Rajagopal's remarks.

Kerala BJP chief P S Sreedharan Pillai said that he was unaware of the statement and did not want to comment on it.

Rajagopal's remarks come at a time when the BJP is trying hard to conquer the southern state. The party has managed to increase its vote share steadily in recent elections.

In 2014, Rajagopal himself offered a tough fight to Shashi Tharoor in Lok Sabha elections in Thiruvananthapuram constituency.

Unemployment in Kerala

In spite of the political aspect, the BJP MLA has raised a genuine concern. According to 2015 data, the unemployment rate in Kerala is 12.5% as compared to the national average of 5 % (as per Usual Principle Status Approach). Kerala has the largest unemployment rate among larger states in the country.