BJP Announces Second List Of 39 Candidates For Kerala Polls

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The BJP on Thursday announced its second list of 39 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala.  The party had earlier declared 47 candidates in its first list. Former Mizoram Governor and veteran BJP leader Kummanam Rajasekharan will contest from the Aranmula constituency in Pathanamthitta district.

Other prominent names in the second list include Ashwini M L, BJP Kasargod district president; social media influencer and reality show personality Dr. Robin Radhakrishnan from Kundara in Kollam district; and B. Gopalakrishnan from Guruvayur.

CPI MLA C C Mukundan, who recently quit the party after being denied a ticket, has been fielded by the BJP from the Nattikka constituency. He resigned from CPI alleging that money played a major role in allotting the ticket to Geeta Gopi. Calling it a “payment seat,” he claimed that the people of the constituency would defeat the moneybags.

The BJP list also includes former KPCC general secretary Valsala Prassanakumar, who recently joined the party and will contest from Paravur. Kerala PCC general secretary M I Job, who resigned from the party in protest against the decision to support CPM rebel G Sudhakaran, has been fielded from Alappuzha.

Senior leaders M T Ramesh and P S Sreedharan Pillai have not yet been included in any list, raising eyebrows both within and outside the party.

The BJP failed to win any seats in the 2021 assembly polls but made history in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by winning the Thrissur seat. This was followed by a victory in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation elections in 2025.

While the leadership is optimistic about continuing their winning streak in the upcoming assembly polls, the drop in overall vote share—from nearly 19.26 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls to 14.76 per cent in the local body elections—despite wins in Thiruvananthapuram corporation and a couple of municipalities, remains a concern.