New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram: The BJP will contest in 14 of the 20 Lok sabha seats in the state.
The Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) will contest in five seats and the P C Thomas-led Kerala Congress will contest the Kottayam seat.
The BDJS will field candidates from Wayanad, Alathur, Idukki, Thrissur and Mavelikkara constituencies.
Announcing the list of seats to be contested by the BJP and allies on Wednesday, BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao said that the central election committee will decide on the candidature of former Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan.
BJP leader P K Krishnadas denied any rift in the state unit over candidate selection, though the party is dithering on the final list of candidates.
The BJP is expected to announce its list of candidates from Kerala in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls by Thursday.
The BJP state unit was unable to finalise its candidates list mainly due to the tussle over Pathanamthitta seat, which was the epicentre of the Sabarimala agitation in the recent past, as many leaders including state president P S Sreedharan Pillai and union minister Alphons Kannanthanam were keen to contesting from there.
However, Manorama News reported that K Surendran has emerged as the most probable candidate from Pathanamthitta constituency.
The central leadership has reportedly asked senior BJP leaders in the state including P S Sreedharan Pillai and M T Ramesh not to contest the elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah attended the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting held at BJP headquarters on Tuesday evening, but a final decision on candidate selection could not be taken.
Former Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan is most likely a candidate from Thiruvananthapuram and Tom Vadakkan, who switched over from Congress last week, may contest from Ernakulam.
BDJS president Thushar Vellappally is likely to contest from the Thrissur. BDJS, which was formed in late 2015, is an ally of the BJP in Kerala and a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Kerala has 20 Lok Sabha seats and the state will vote on April 23.
