Muraleedharan unlikely to contest; Sreedharan vs Shafi on the cards

BJP leaders
K Surendran, Suresh Gopi, V Muraleedharan, Kummanam Rajasekharan. Design: Onmanorama

Thiruvananthapuram: Union Minister V Muraleedharan is unlikely to be a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in the Kerala Assembly Election. The party's central leadership has reportedly conveyed its objection to the core committee of its state unit.

It was widely surmised that Muraleedharan could be in the poll fray from the Kazhakootam assembly constituency in the southern Thiruvananthapuram district. He is a former president of the state BJP and the Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs.

K Surendran, the current state chief of BJP, could be the party candidate from Kazhakootam.

As per the latest reports ex-party chief, Kummanam Rajasekharan could be trying his luck from the nearby Nemom seat from where the party's first-ever MLA was elected in the 2016 state polls.

Shobha Surendran too could be deployed from a constituency in the Thiruvananthapuram district, where the party fancies its chances.

Actor Suresh Gopi's seat

Meanwhile, BJP has short-listed actor-politician Suresh Gopi for three seats across the state. Vattiyoorkavu, Thiruvananthapuram or a constituency in the northern part of Kerala is being marked for the Rajya Sabha MP.

E Sreedharan
E Sreedharan. File photo: Manorama

Sreedharan's seat

An interesting poll battle is likely looming in the Palakkad seat. E Sreedharan, the 88-year-old technocrat who recently joined the BJP, is reportedly being considered from here.

Shafi Parambil, the assertive young Congress MLA, could be Sreedharan's rival here.

None of the parties is yet to formally release their candidate list. As of now only the list of probables is ready and sources have conveyed the names of likely picks from several constituencies.

The state election is on April 6. In all 2,67,31,509 eligible voters will elect their representatives for 140 constituencies.

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