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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala, on Monday, March 16, announced its first list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections. The party has fielded several key leaders, including former Union Minister and BJP’s Kerala state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, former state president K Surendran, and senior leader Sobha Surendran. The initial list includes 47 candidates, of whom seven are women.
The BJP has fielded Rajeev Chandrasekhar in the Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram, where the party finished second in 2021 and had won the seat in 2016. In the previous election, CPI(M) leader and Kerala’s current Education Minister V Sivankutty retained the seat with a margin of 3,949 votes. BJP’s Kummanam Rajasekharan finished second in the constituency.
The party has also fielded Sobha Surendran in Palakkad, another key constituency where the BJP finished second in the previous election. In 2021, Congress leader and United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Shafi Parambil won the seat with a margin of 3,859 votes. National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate E Sreedharan secured second place and increased the BJP’s vote share by around 6%.
Manjeswaram is another important constituency for the BJP, where the party lost by just 745 votes in the last election. Former BJP state president K Surendran will contest from the seat this time.
Former Union Minister V Muraleedharan will contest from Kazhakoottam.
Former IPS officer and Thiruvananthapuram corporation councillor R Sreelekha will contest from Vattiyoorkavu. Even before the official announcement of her candidature on March 7, Sreelekha had flagged off her campaign in the constituency.
Malayalam actor and director K Raveendran, popularly known as Major Ravi, will contest from the Ottappalam constituency in Palakkad district. Earlier, he attended the launch of the BJP’s campaign in Ottappalam, triggering speculation about his candidacy.
According to a press note, the names were finalised by the BJP’s Central Election Committee at a meeting held on March 12 under the presidency of Nitin Nabin. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, and other committee members.
List of 47 candidates
Kasargod
Manjeshwar — K Surendran
Udma — Manulal Meloth
Kanhangad — Balraj M
Kannur
Payyannur — AP Gangadharan
Azhikode — KK Vinod Kumar
Kannur — C Raghunath
Wayanad
Mananthavady — P Shyam Raj
Sulthanbathery — Kavitha AS
Kozhikode
Vadakara — Adv K Dileep
Kuttiadi — Ramadas Manaleri
Nadapuram — CP Vipin Chandran
Quilandy — CR Praphul Krishnan
Perambra — M Mohanan Master
Balusseri — CP Satheeshan
Elathur — T Devadas
Kozhikode North — Navya Haridas
Kozhikode South — T Raneesh
Beypore — Adv. KP Prakash Babu
Kunnamangalam — VK Sajeevan
Palakkad
Shornur — Sanku T Das
Ottappalam — Major Ravi
Malampuzha — C Krishnakumar
Palakkad — Sobha Surendran
Thrissur
Chelakkara — K Balakrishnan
Manalur — Adv. KK Aneesh Kumar
Thrissur — Padmaja Venugopal
Irinjalakuda — Santosh Cherakulam
Idukki
Devikulam — S Rajendran
Kottayam
Pala — Shone George
Vaikom — K Ajith
Kanjirappally – Adv. George Kurian
Poonjar — PC George
Alappuzha
Ambalappuzha — Arun Anirudhan
Haripad — Sandeep Vachaspathi
Chengannur — MV Gopakumar
Pathanamthitta
Thiruvalla — Anoop Antony Joseph
Kollam
Karunagappally — VS Jithin Dev
Kunnathur — Raji Prasad
Kottarakkara — R Reshmi
Chathannoor — BB Gopakumar
Thiruvananthapuram
Attingal — Adv. P Sudheer
Nedumangad — Yuvaraj Gokul
Kazhakoottam — V Muraleedharan
Vattiyoorkavu — R Sreelekha
Nemom — Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Parassala — Adv Gireesh Neyyar
Kattakkada — PK Krishnadas