New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday announced the names of candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in the four states of Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Assam. The party fielded sitting MPs, including Union minister Supriyo Babul and Swapan Dasgupta, to take on ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal that is set for a high-pitched poll battle.
In Kerala also, where it will contest 115 seats, the BJP has fielded sitting Rajya Sabha MPs K.J. Alphons and Suresh Gopi. ‘Metro man’ E. Sreedharan will contest from Palakkad.
Sreedharan, who was appointed the principal advisor for the Metro Rail project in Kochi after his retirement as the chief of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on 31 December 2011, recently joined the BJP.
Kerala BJP chief K. Surendran will contest from two constituencies — Manjeshwar in Kasaragod and Konni in Pathanamthitta — while former state president Kummanam Rajasekharan will contest from Nemom.
MP K.J. Alphons will contest from Kanjirappally assembly seat, while Suresh Gopi will contest from Thrissur. Abdul Salam will be contesting from Tirur seat and former DGP Jacob Thomas from Irinjalakuda.
Addressing a press conference Sunday, BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said the while party will be contesting 115 seats in Kerala, 25 seats will be left for four of its allies.
A final decision on the full list of candidates for the four states was taken at the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting of the party Saturday, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and senior party leader J.P. Nadda, among others, were present at the meeting.
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West Bengal
In West Bengal, where the BJP is using all its might to form the next government, the party has fielded its sitting MPs from both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.
The party has fielded Union minister Babul Supriyo from Tollygunge, actor-turned politician and Lok Sabha MP from Hooghly Locket Chatterjee from Churchura, economist Ashok Lahiri from Alipurduar, and journalist and Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta from Tarkeshwar. The party has also fielded Cooch Behar MP Nishit Pramanik from Dinhata assembly.
Indranil Khan, the doctor who was detained following his social media posts highlighting the alleged shortage of protective gear in hospitals in West Bengal, has been fielded by the BJP from Kasba constituency.
West Bengal elections will take place in eight phases and the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to ensure victory. PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have addressed a number of rallies in the state.
Tamil Nadu
BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said the party’s Tamil Nadu president, L. Murugan, will contest from Dharapuram, while senior leader H. Raja will fight from Karaikudi.
Singh added that actor-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar will contest from the Thousand Lights assembly seat, while BJP’s Mahila Morcha chief Vanathi Srinivasan will contest from Comibatore South against Makkal Needhi Maiam’s (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan.
The party has also finalised the remaining 17 candidates for Assam.
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