THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The BJP might field its national vice-president and minority face AP Abdullakutty in the Wayanad parliament constituency where senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is contesting against LDF’s Annie Raja.
The decision about the candidates in the rest of the three constituencies — Kollam, Ernakulam and Alathur — will be announced in a day or two, a party source said. It is learnt that senior leader Sandeep Warrier is likely to be fielded in one of the three constituencies. BJP had announced a list of 12 candidates earlier. Its ally BDJS has also named its candidates in four seats.
With three of the seven assembly constituencies in the Wayanad parliamentary constituency coming under the Muslim-dominated Malappuram district where IUML has considerable clout, the BJP is taking stock of the situation. The party is also considering the name of Delhi-based Yuva Morcha leader Anoop Antony for the seat. Anoop had contested from Ambalapuzha in the 2021 assembly election. A final call will be made by the central election committee which is likely to meet in a couple of days.
In Kollam, where both the LDF and the RSP have completed the first round of the campaign, the saffron party is considering two names. BJP state committee member Sandeep Vachaspati is the main contender. The party is also considering actor-director Major Ravi. In Ernakulam also, Major Ravi’s name is being considered. If he is not contesting, either A N Radhakrishnan or K S Radhakrishnan will be the candidate.
In Alathur reservation constituency, BJP is considering the names of the former principal of Government Victoria College, Dr T N Sarasu, and Renu Surendran. In 2016 it was against Sarasu that a group of SFI students allegedly prepared a symbolic grave as a ‘retirement gift.’