THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The BJP central leadership on Monday announced its candidates, with little surprises, in seven of the 14 constituencies in the capital district where the party expects to win more than one seat.
As speculated, BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar will contest from Nemom and former DGP R Sreelekha will contest from Vattiyoorkkavu, two constituencies where intense triangular fights are expected.
While former Union Minister V Muraleedharan is being fielded in Kazhakkoottam, the party’s national executive member, P K Krishnadas, will contest from Kattakkada for the fourth consecutive time. Both of them had earlier informally kick-started their election campaigns through protests against sitting MLAs in the two respective constituencies. Boosting the party further, most of these constituencies are located within Thiruvananthapuram corporation limits, where the party achieved a significant win in the local body elections.
The other candidates are P Sudheer (Attingal), Yuvraj Gokul (Nedumangad) and Gireesh Neyyar (Parassala).
The candidates for seven more seats in the district -- Varkala, Chirayinkeezhu, Vamanapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Aruvikkara, Kovalam and Neyyattinkara -- are expected to be announced by Wednesday. Among these, multiple names are reportedly being considered for the Thiruvananthapuram constituency, where even the BJP city district president Karamana Jayan has publicly expressed interest in contesting.
However, the candidate announcement has not been free of friction, as the BJP has announced Gireesh Neyyar as the candidate in Parassala. The seat was earlier demanded by NDA ally Kerala Kamaraj Congress (KKC), which is trying to tap into the Nadar votes there.
“The Nadar community is a strong force, not just in Parassala but also in various seats where the BJP has an eye on. If KKC is not given a seat in Parassala, BJP will have to face its implications in other constituencies,” KKC chief Vishnupuram Chandrasekharan told TNIE.