THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The list of NDA candidates contesting the general elections from the state will be announced on Thursday. The BDJS and Kerala Congress have already finalised their candidates.
The BJP state unit, plagued by infighting and group activities, has to make several omissions and additions to satisfy several leaders as well as the RSS leadership before announcing the final list. While P S Sreedharan Pillai remained the frontrunner for the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha seat, the pressure from various corners within the party and the RSS has led to K Surendran being considered as the candidate for the constituency. In Thiruvananthapuram, the BJP has already finalised the name of Kummanam Rajasekharan.
It is learnt that Sreedharan Pillai is not contesting the polls, instead he will concentrate on organisational work across the state. Senior leaders P K Krishnadas and M T Ramesh too will not contest, while Shobha Surendran will contest from Attingal.
In Kollam, the party will field Tom Vadakkan, former secretary and spokesperson of AICC. In Mavelikkara, Thazhava Sahadevan of BDJS will contest, while in Idukki it will be Biju Krishnan of BDJS. Kerala Congress leader and former Union Minister P C Thomas will be the NDA candidate from Kottayam, while Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam is likely to contest from Ernakulam.