Kerala Polls: Congress releases second list of 37 candidates

Congress released its second list of 37 candidates for the Kerala Assembly elections, including TO Mohanan and Sandeep Varier. The party had earlier announced 55 candidates, with VD Satheesan and K Muraleedharan among the prominent names.

Congress Announces Candidate Lists

Congress on Thursday announced its second list of 37 candidates for the April 9 Keralam Assembly elections. As per the released list, TO Mohanan is contesting from Kannur, Senapathy Venu from Udumbanchola, and Santhakumar from the Adoor (SC) seat. While Sandeep Varier is contesting from Trikaripur, M Liju is running from Kayamkulam, and Abin Varkey from Aranmula.

In the first list, Congress has announced 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. K Muraleedharan, former MP and son of veteran Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Kerala, K Karunakaran, from the Vattiyoorkavu seat.

Election Schedule and Political Context

The 2026 Kerala Legislative Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 9, 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.

The Model Code of Conduct comes into place, setting in process elections to the 140-member State Assembly, which is also known as the Kerala Niyamasabha. 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.

BJP Releases Candidate Lists

Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday released the second list of 39 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Kerala. BJP has fielded K Ranjith from Dharmadam against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. 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.

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.

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