THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The BJP’s candidate list for the assembly election is expected to be announced in Delhi by Saturday. After approval by the BJP state election committee which meets in Thrissur on Thursday, the party’s central election committee will take up the shortlist for consideration late on Friday and a formal announcement is expected the next day.
According to sources, state president K Surendran along with past presidents P K Krishnadas, V Muraleedharan and Kummanam Rajasekharan will be in Delhi and will be consulted during the final selection process. A list of three probable candidates from each constituency along with their detailed bio-data will be submitted to the central election committee.
A decision on the candidature of Surendran, Muraleedharan and Suresh Gopi, MP, will also be taken by the central leadership. “This time around, we will have a fairly good number of youth, women and fresh faces as candidates. All sections of society will find adequate representation in the list of candidates,” BJP national executive member and former state president Krishnadas told TNIE.
Surendran, who was in Konni constituency in Pathanamthitta on Wednesday, said the BJP’s candidate probables have been shortlisted but the party is also keeping a close eye on the UDF’s list. “We expect more to join the NDA ranks in the run up to the election,” he said. Sources indicated Surendran is likely to enter the fray from Konni where he contested two previous elections.