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Kerala polls: BJP releases 1st candidates list; Rajeev Chandrasekhar named from Nemom
State BJP chief and former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has been fielded from Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram district, a seat the BJP had won in the 2016 election
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday announced its first list of 47 candidates for the Kerala Assembly elections scheduled on April 9.
State BJP chief and former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has been fielded from Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram district, a seat the BJP had won in the 2016 elections. It is the only constituency the saffron party has ever won in the state Assembly. Currently, the seat is held by V Sivankutty, CPI(M) leader and state general education minister, who has been renominated by the party. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the 2025 local body polls, the BJP enjoyed a lead in the constituency.
Other senior leaders who have been fielded include former state chief K Surendran from Manjeshwar, former Union MoS (External Affairs) V Muraleedharan from Kazhakootam, current MoS (Fisheries and Minority Affairs) George Kurian from Kanjirappally and state general secretary Sobha Surendran from Palakkad. State general secretary Anoop Antony, close to Chandrasekhar, has been fielded from Thiruvalla.
The party’s women candidates include former DGP and current Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Councillor R Sreelekha in Vattiyoorkavu, Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of late Congress CM K Karunakaran, in Thrissur constituency and Mahila Morcha state president Navya Haridas in Kozhikode North.
Father-son duo PC George and Shone George, who joined the BJP in 2024, have been accommodated in Poonjar and Pala constituencies respectively. 74-year-old PC George is a former seven-time MLA who served in various parties including Kerala Congress (Joseph) and Kerala Congress (M).
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Leaders who were denied tickets in their parties and subsequently joined the BJP have also been accommodated. R Reshmi, who left the Congress, and K Ajith, who left the CPI, have been fielded from Kottarakkara and Vaikkom constituencies.
CC Mukundan, sitting CPI MLA from Nattika who exited the party after being denied ticket, joined the BJP on Monday. He is expected to be fielded from Nattika on BJP ticket.
The BJP is expected to fight on 90-100 seats in the 140-member Kerala Assembly while its allies BDJS, Twenty-20, Kamaraj Congress are slated to get the remaining seats.
