NDA candidate list for Kerala polls soon, says BJP's Chandrasekhar

Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar says the NDA candidate list for the 2026 Assembly polls will be announced shortly. He also accused CM Pinarayi Vijayan of hypocrisy over the LDF government's U-turn on the Sabarimala temple issue.

NDA Candidate List Soon

Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Sunday said that discussions on NDA candidates for the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections are progressing smoothly, with the official announcement expected in the coming days. Speaking to the reporters, Chandrasekhar said, "Discussions are going on smoothly on the NDA candidates, and we expect the announcement on them shortly, certainly in the next few days."

The 2026 Kerala Legislative Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 9, the Election Commission of India announced today, 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.

Chandrasekhar Slams CM Vijayan Over Sabarimala

Further, Chandrasekhar accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of hypocrisy over the Sabarimala temple issue. "The same state government that sent thousands of people to jail and filed cases against over 3000 supporters of Sabrimala, took a U-turn yesterday and discovered that only religious leaders should decide on religious rituals... If they have an iota of shame, they should first withdraw all the cases against the Bhakts and seek forgiveness from them... They know the Muslims and Hindus are not voting for them and want to get some Hindu votes by pretending to be someone who worships Sabrimala... Pinnarayi Vijayan and his colleagues have no faith in the temple; they have disrespected it and harmed its Bhakts, they will continue to do so and it is only an election time gimmick," he said.

This comes after the Left Democratic Front (LDF)-led Kerala government has shifted its stance on the Sabarimala temple entry issue, informing the Supreme Court that it now supports the continuation of traditional restrictions barring women between the ages of 10 and 50 from entering the shrine. This position marks a clear departure from the state's 2018 support for unrestricted access, and this move is widely seen as a strategic move to align with devotee sentiments ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections.

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