Kerala polls: BJP fields strong candidates, vows to give people a change

BJP released its second list of 39 candidates for the Kerala Assembly election, with state President Rajeev Chandrasekhar calling it a 'strong and competitive' list. The party has fielded K Ranjith against CM Pinarayi Vijayan in Dharmadam.

BJP Announces Second Candidate List

As the BJP released its second list of candidates for the Kerala Assembly election, state BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar hailed it as a strong and competitive list of candidates which reflects the party's seriousness to give the people a change. "We have an extremely strong and competitive list of candidates announced in the list. In my opinion, this tells the people of Keralam that we are very serious about the election and we are determined to give the people of Keralam a change," he said.

BJP released the second list of 39 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Kerala, fielding K Ranjith against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for Dharmadam constituency. Former Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan has been fielded from Aranmula. BJP has fielded Ashwini ML from Kasaragod, PR Sivasankar from Ernakulam, Vathsala Prasanna Kumar from Paravur, and Renu Suresh from Kongad.

Key Candidates from BJP's First List

BJP had released its first list of 47 candidates on March 19, fielding the party's state President Rajeev Chandrasekhar from Nemom seat and former Union Minister of State for External Affairs of India, V Muraleedharan, from Kazhakoottam seat.

CM Pinarayi Vijayan Files Nomination

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan filed his nomination from the Dharmadam assembly constituency today.

Congress Candidates Announced

Earlier, Congres has announced its list of 55 candidates. The party fielded Kerala Congress Committee President Sunny Joseph from the Peravoor seat. Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan has been fielded from the Paravur seat.

Election Schedule and Political Context

The 2026 Kerala Legislative Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 9, the Election Commission of India announced on March 15, with the counting of votes scheduled to take place on May 4. The tenure of the current assembly is scheduled to end on May 23.

Both the BJP-led NDA and Congress-led UDF seek to unseat the incumbent Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led LDF and gain control of the 140-member assembly. The LDF-led government has governed the state for around a decade. (ANI)

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