New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 21: The BJP has fielded the party’s district president Karamana Jayan, in Thiruvananthapuram, as it released a fresh list of 11 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections on Saturday.
With the latest list, the BJP has now announced 97 candidates for the April 9 polls.
Jayan will take on actor Sudheer Karamana, who is contesting as an LDF-backed independent, and Communist Marxist Party (CMP) and UDF leader C P John.
The sitting MLA Antony Raju of the Janadhipathya Kerala Congress (JKC), an LDF ally, was disqualified following his conviction and sentencing by a magistrate’s court in a case related to evidence tampering.
Another key name in the list is businessman S Rajasekharan Nair, who will contest from Neyyattinkara.
He had contested from the same constituency in the 2021 Assembly elections and finished third behind CPI(M) leader K Ansalan and Congress leader R Selvaraj.
This time, he will face sitting MLA Ansalan and Congress candidate N Sakthan.
The BJP has also fielded B S Anoop in the SC-reserved Chirayinkeezhu constituency and R S Arun Raj in Chadayamangalam, who joined the party after being denied a ticket by the Congress.
TN Suresh, who joined the BJP after leaving the RJD, will contest from Kovalam.
Actor Vivek Gopan will contest from Aruvikkara.
In 2021, he contested the election from Chavara in the Kollam district.
Raveendranath Vakathanam will contest from Puthuppally, a Congress stronghold where sitting MLA Chandy Oommen, son of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, is in the fray.
The BJP has also fielded V Ratheesh in Peerumade, Ajimon in the SC-reserved Mavelikkara, Pandalam Prathapan in the SC-reserved Adoor and K R Rajesh in Chavara.
Other NDA allies, including Twenty20 and BDJS, have also announced their candidates recently.
Prominent BJP leaders have already begun filing their nominations, with the last date for submission being March 23.
