THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The BJP on Saturday announced its candidates for the by-elections to Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency and Palakkad , Chelakkara assembly seats. The party fielded Navya Haridas, Mahila Morcha state general secretary, in Wayanad against Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The party national leadership also announced the candidature of state general secretary C Krishna Kumar in the Palakkad assembly constituency and K Balakrishnan in the Chelakkara reserved constituency. The elections will be held on November 13 and counting is slated for November 23.
Navya, the youth face of the BJP in Malabar, is a two-time representative of the party in Kozhikode corporation. She also serves as the BJP parliamentary party leader in the corporation.
The party fielded her from Kozhikode South in the 2021 assembly election, where she finished third. The Wayanad seat fell vacant after the Leader of the Opposition in the LS Rahul Gandhi vacated the seat. The CPI has fielded senior leader Sathyan Mokeri in the constituency.
BJP places high hopes in Palakkad
Malayalapuzha Mohan had said the timing of the meeting was also changed to suit Divya’s convenience. It was this stand that led to Divya’s removal from the post of the Kannur district panchayat president.
The Kannur district committee, to which Divya belongs, has taken a more lenient view on the issue. According to the Kannur district secretariat, the remarks Divya made at the meeting should have been avoided. The strong stand of the employees’ organisations that are loyal to the CPM and that of Revenue Minister K Rajan also contributed to Divya’s exit.