Former Kerala Director General of Police R. Sreelekha has resigned as a BJP councillor in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. She represented the Sasthamangalam ward.

Sreelekha, the first woman to hold the rank of DGP in Kerala, submitted her resignation to Mayor V.V. Rajesh on September 30, citing personal reasons. She informed ward residents through a message and said a copy would go to the district collector.

The resignation has created a procedural tangle. Corporation rules require such letters to be submitted to the Corporation secretary, not the mayor. The secretary said he has not received it. Deputy Mayor Asha G. Nath said she learned of the decision only through the media.

Sreelekha was elected in December 2025 with a comfortable majority, months after retiring from the police service. She had been projected as the BJP’s mayoral face, but V.V. Rajesh was chosen mayor after the BJP emerged as the largest group in the 101-member council.

BJP leaders are trying to persuade her to withdraw the resignation. Her exit reduces the NDA’s strength in the council from 51 to 50, according to party sources.