Kerala Assembly elections: Shobha Surendran and KK Surendran in BJP poll fray
Thiruvananthapuram: The BJP has decided to field almost all its senior leaders in the electoral fray in a bid to prove its strength in the state. State president Kummanam Rajasekharan will contest from Vattiyoorkavu and Mr O. Rajagopal from Vattiyoorkavu. The others in the list announced on Sunday include general secretary Shobha Surendran (Palakkad) and her husband K. K. Surendran (Ponnani), former party presidents V. Muraleedharan, (Kazhakoottam), P. K. Krishnadas (Kattakkada) P. S. Sreedharan Pillai (Chengannur) and C. K. Padmanabhan (Kunnamangalam), state general secretaries M. T. Ramesh (Aranmula), K.Surendran (Manjeswaram), A. N. Radhakrishnan (Manaloor) and vice-president K. P. Sreesan (Kozhikode North).
The BJP election committee meeting also decided to give 26 seats to Bharat Dharma Jana Sena, NDA partner. Ms Shobha Surendran managed to get Palakkad seat despite Mr Muraleedharan favouring Mr C. Krishnakumar, BJP state secretary. Her husband, Mr Surendran, is state executive member. The couple is based in Mookkuthala in Ponnani Assembly constituency, Malappuram district. Mr Surendran, 52, was an ABVP unit secretary.
The meeting could not decide the candidate for Thiruvananthapuram central. BJP sources told DC that film director Rajasenan and Aditya Varma of the erstwhile Travancore royal family were being considered from Thiruvananthapuram seat. However, the party is yet to seek the consent of Aditya Varma. Actor Devan may also be given a key constituency. Mr Kummanam will leave for New Delhi on Wednesday with the final list. The names of the candidates will be announced on March 17 after holding talks with BJP national president Amit Shah.
The following are the seats allotted to BDJS: Kanhangad (Kasargod), Peravoor (Kannur), Kozhikode South and Thiruvambady (Kozhikode), Peri-nthalmanna (Malappuram), Chalakudy, Kaippamangalam, Nattika and Irinjalakuda (Thrissur), Kunnathunadu and Vypin (Ernakulam), Ettumanoor and Poonjar (Kottayam), Aroor, Cherthala, Vaikkom, Kayamkulam and Kuttanad (Alappuzha), Idukki and Udumpanchola (Idukki), Ranni and Tiruvalla (Pathanamthitta), Eravipuram and Karunagapally (Kollam), Vamanapuram and Varkala (Thiruvananthapuram). During the next round of talks between the BJP and the BDJS on March 16, more seats would be earmarked for the latter.
