BJP releases first list of 47 candidates for Assembly polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list of 47 candidates for the upcoming Legislative Assembly elections in Kerala on Monday.

Among the prominent candidates, party State president and former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar will contest from Nemom Assembly constituency, while former Union Minister V. Muraleedharan will seek mandate from Kazhakuttom.

Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, George Kurian, will contest the polls from Kanjirappally constituency. Former BJP State presidents K. Surendran and P.K. Krishnadas will contest again from Manjeswaram and Kattakada, respectively, where they had unsuccessfully fought in 2021.

The list was finalised by by the BJP central election committee chaired by party president Nitin Nabin. Notably, it includes a mix of prominent leaders, political turncoats and new entrants.

The party has fielded political leaders who quit their former parties in the constituencies they previously represented. Former CPI(M) MLA S. Rajendran will contest from Devikulam, while former CPI MLA K. Ajith will contest from Vaikom.

Veteran leader P.C. George will return to the hustings by attempting to wrest back Poonjar constituency that he represented five times in the past, while his son Shone George has been fielded from Pala.

Former Director General of Police (DGP) R. Sreelekha, presently a councillor in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, will contest from Vattiyurkavu.

Party State general secretary Sobha Surendran will contest from Palakkad, while Padmaja Venugopal is also in the fray from Thrissur. Mahila Morcha State president Navya Haridas will contest from Kozhikode North. Filmmaker Major Ravi will contest from Ottappalam constituency.

The list also includes Manulal Meloth (Uduma), Balraj M. (Kanhangad), A.P. Gangadharan (Payyannur), K.K. Vinod Kumar (Azhikode), C. Raghunath (Kannur), P. Shyam Raj (Mananthavady), Kavitha A.S. (Sulthan Bathery), K. Dileep (Vadakara), Ramadas Manaleri (Kuttiyadi), C.P. Vipin Chandran (Nadapuram), C.R. Praphul Krishnan (Koyilandy), M. Mohanan (Perambra), C.P. Satheeshan (Balussery), T. Devadas (Elathur), T. Raneesh (Kozhikode South), K.P. Prakash Babu (Beypore), V.K. Sajeevan (Kunnamangalam), Sanku T. Das (Shornur), C. Krishnakumar (Malampuzha), K. Balakrishnan (Chelakkara) and K.K. Aneesh Kumar (Manalur).

Others in the fray are Santhosh Cherakulam (Iringalakuda), Arun Anirudhan (Ambalappuzha), Sandeep Vachaspathi (Haripad), M.V. Gopakumar (Chengannur), Anoop Antony Joseph (Thiruvalla), V.S. Jithin Dev (Karunagapally), Raji Prasad (Kunnathur), R. Reshmi (Kottarakara), B.B. Gopakumar (Chathannoor), P. Sudheer (Attingal), Yuvaraj Gokul (Nedumangad) and Gireesh Neyyar (Parassala).

The party, having won only one seat in the past when veteran leader O. Rajagopal had successfully contested from Nemom in 2016, hopes to position the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that it leads as a stable third force in a political landscape dominated by Left Democratic Front and United Democratic Front.

Besides targeting wins in a handful of seats, the BJP also aims to increase its statewide vote share by expanding its support base. It also hopes to translate its local-level political gains into milestones at the Assembly polls, especially in the capital district where the NDA captured power in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation for the first time.