Ex-Telangana Governor Tamilisai To Contest TN Polls

Chennai: The BJP on Friday released its first list of 27 candidates for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, fielding former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan from Mylapore and Union minister L. Murugan from Avanashi.

Former state president K. Annamalai was not included in the list. Addressing the decision, Union minister and BJP state election in-charge Piyush Goyal said, “He is a dedicated soldier of the party, and he has desired to work across the state rather than being restricted to one constituency”.

Annamalai had earlier said, “In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, they asked me to contest. Now, nobody has asked me to contest. I did not seek an opportunity, and I am carrying out the tasks assigned to me. If the party decides and asks me to contest, I will.”

Among other candidates, Vanathi Srinivasan will contest from Coimbatore North, Kirthika Shivkumar from Modakkurichi, S. Vijayadharani from Vilavancode, and Nagesh Kumar from Thalli.

The party has retained three sitting MLAs, including senior leader M.R. Gandhi from Nagercoil. state president Nainar Nagenthran, who won Tirunelveli in 2021, has been fielded from Sattur.

Ms Srinivasan, who had defeated actor-politician Kamal Haasan in Coimbatore South in 2021, has been nominated from Coimbatore North.

The BJP has also fielded five women candidates, including Vijayadharani, who joined the party in February 2024 after leaving the Congress, and Kavitha Srikanth from Aranthangi.

Polling for the 234-member Assembly is scheduled for April 23, with counting on May 4.

The list reflects the party’s candidate selection following seat-sharing arrangements with allies.