The Bhartiya Janta Party, Monday, released the first list of 47 candidates for the upcoming Kerala Assembly Elections. The party has fielded K Surendran from the Manjeshwar seat. Navya Haridas from Kozhikode North. Adv George Kurian from Kanjirappally, V. Muraleedharan from Kazhakoottam, and state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar from Nemom.
The state will undergo polls in a single phase on April 9 in all 140 Assembly constituencies, with counting of votes scheduled for May 4.
BJP announces first list of 47 candidates for the upcoming Kerala Assembly Elections
Earlier on Sunday, soon after the poll dates announcement by the Election Commission of India, the Communist Party of India-Marxist unveiled its candidate list for the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala, fielding 75 nominees, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and nine members of his Cabinet.
Announcing the list shortly after the election schedule was made public, party state Secretary M. V. Govindan said the candidates include 56 sitting legislators, reflecting the party’s decision to largely retain its experienced leadership while heading into another crucial electoral contest.
He said the party has also decided to field independent candidates in six constituencies as part of its broader electoral understanding within the Left Democratic Front.
Candidates for the remaining five constituencies will be announced shortly, he added.
The list includes all nine Cabinet ministers of the Left government, among them Tourism Minister P. A. Mohammed Riyas, who is also Vijayan’s son-in-law.
Even as the party unveiled its candidate slate, campaign activity gathered momentum across the State.
Within an hour of the poll schedule being announced, General Education Minister V. Sivankutty hit the campaign trail in the State capital, launching a road show in his constituency.
“I have been with my people all these years, and now I am just starting to meet them again. Victory is certain, and we are going to return for a third straight term,” he said.
The Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram is expected to witness a keen contest, with Sivankutty set to take on Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the state President of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Nemom holds particular significance in Kerala’s political landscape.
It was the only Assembly constituency won by the BJP in the State when veteran leader O. Rajagopal scripted history in the 2016 Assembly elections.
However, Sivankutty wrested the seat back for the Left Front in the 2021 polls, and the constituency is once again shaping up to be a closely watched electoral battleground.
