BJP fields 47 in first Kerala list; Rajeev Chandrasekhar to contest from Nemom

Nemom holds a special place in the BJP’s electoral history, with O Rajagopal becoming the party’s first MLA in Kerala by winning the seat in 2016.

The BJP on Monday released its first list of 47 candidates for the upcoming Kerala assembly elections, with state unit president Rajeev Chandrasekhar set to contest from Nemom — the only assembly constituency the party ever won in the southern coastal state.

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Former state president K Surendran will contest from Manjeshwar, a seat he had narrowly lost earlier. Sobha Surendran has been fielded from Palakkad, while former DGP R Sreelekha will contest from Vattiyoorkavu. Navya Haridas, who had contested against Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra in Wayanad during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, will run from Kozhikode North.

The BJP, in a press release, said the candidates were finalised at the central election committee meeting held on March 12 under the chairmanship of Nitin Nabin. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, along with other members of the committee, attended the meeting.

Chandrasekhar said the party would put out the names of remaining candidates by Wednesday.

The NDA is extremely serious about the upcoming polls, the state BJP president said. “Our first list includes one serving union minister, two former Union Ministers, two former state presidents, one former Governor, four members of the Christian community, seven from the SC community, and two from the ST community. This is an extremely important list and shows how serious we are.”

“This is a well-represented list of candidates. In the political history of Kerala, this is the most decisive election. I am honoured to get the opportunity to contest,” he said.

The BJP has fielded its biggest and tallest leaders across the state. “We are here to fight to win and bring change to Keralam,” he said while adding that he was confident that he would be able to serve Nemom better than its sitting MLA.

The Election Commission will hold polling for all 140 assembly constituencies in Kerala on April 9, with counting scheduled for May 4. Political parties are racing to complete their candidate selection as May 23 is the last date for filing nominations.

The NDA’s campaign will centre on the theme of building a “Viksit Keralam”, a phrase frequently used by Prime Minister Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. The BJP’s state unit has also adopted the campaign slogan: “Enough… Let the change begin.”