New Delhi/Wayanad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday named 111 more candidates who will contest the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections starting April 19. Interestingly, in Kerala, the BJP has fielded its state unit president K Surendran in Wayanad, which is a constituency that has gained national attention with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's candidature.
A P Abdullakutty, Sandeep Varier and C K Janu were some of the names considered by the leadership in Wayanad. However, the central leadership believes that fielding Surendran in Wayanad would create the impression both within and beyond the state that the BJP is taking the elections in Kerala seriously. Surendran had decided not to contest this year's elections. Wayanad is now set for a heavyweight battle between Surendran, Rahul and the CPI's Annie Raja.
Other NDA candidates in the state, announced in the list, are K S Radhakrishnan in Ernakulam, G Krishnakumar in Kollam and T N Sarasu in Alathur. Radhakrishnan, who left the Congress to join BJP, contested from Alappuzha in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Krishnakumar, who is also an actor, contested from Thiruvananthapuram in the 2021 Assembly polls. T N Sarasu, BJP's candidate in Alathur constituency, is the former principal of Government Victoria College in Palakkad. With this, the NDA has fielded candidates in all 20 constituencies of Kerala.
