In Kerala's Mattathur grama panchayat, eight Congress ward members voted to enable the BJP to gain power, prompting a political controversy. The Congress leadership, led by V.D. Satheesan, stated these members violated a party whip but did not defect to the BJP. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan criticized the incident, calling it the 'Mattathur model' and suggesting it signals a potential strategy for the BJP in future elections, drawing parallels to past political shifts in other states.