The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday released the first list of 47 candidates for the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections. Former Union Minister and current state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar will contest from Nemom, a constituency known as the BJP's 'gateway to Kerala' as it is the only Assembly seat the party has ever won in the state. O Rajagopal won from Nemom in the 2016 Assembly polls.

Minister of State for Fisheries George Kurian is set to contest from Kanjirappally. P C George will contest from Poonjar, while his son Shone George will stand from Pala. P K Krishnadas will contest from Kattakkada.

Former state president K Surendran will contest from Manjeshwar, a seat where he has previously maintained a razor-thin margin. Sobha Surendran is assigned to the high-stakes Palakkad seat. In a significant move following her shift from Congress, Padmaja Venugopal will contest from Thrissur. Former DGP R Sreelekha makes her electoral debut from Vattiyoorkavu. The former Union Minister V Muraleedharan will lead the charge in Kazhakoottam.

However, the BJP’s first list does not include a single candidate from constituencies in Ernakulam district. It is learnt that Twenty20, the latest entrant to the NDA, is likely to claim a significant share of seats in the district, although seat-sharing discussions are yet to be finalised. The BJP is expected to announce more candidates in the coming days.

The list was finalised after the party's Central Election Committee meeting held on March 12 under the presidentship of Nitin Nabin. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, along with other members of the committee.

The remaining candidates are as follows:
1. Udma – Manulal Meloth
2. Kanhangad – Balraj M
3. Payyannur – AP Gangadharan
4. Azhikode – KK Vinod Kumar
5. Kannur – C Raghunath
6. Mananthavady (ST) – P Shyam Raj
7. Sulthan Bathery (ST) – Kavitha A S
8. Vadakara – Adv K Dileep
9. Kuttiadi – Ramadas Manaleri
10. Nadapuram – C P Vipin Chandran
11. Quilandy – C R Praphul Krishnan
12. Perambra – M Mohanan Master
13. Balusseri (SC) – C P Satheeshan
14. Elathur – T Devadas
15. Kozhikode North – Navya Haridas
16. Kozhikode South – T Raneesh
17. Beypore – Adv K P Prakash Babu
18. Kunnamangalam – V K Sajeevan
19. Shornur – Sanku T Das
20. Malampuzha – C Krishnakumar
21. Chelakkara (SC) – K Balakrishnan
22. Manalur – Adv K K Aneesh Kumar
23. Irinjalakuda – Santosh Cherakulam
24. Devikulam (SC) – S Rajendran
25. Parassala – Adv Gireesh Neyyar
26. Vaikom (SC) – K Ajith
27. Vattiyoorkavu – R Sreelekha
28. Poonjar – P C George
29. Ambalappuzha – Arun Anirudhan
30. Haripad – Sandeep Vachaspathi
31. Chengannur – M V Gopakumar
32. Thiruvalla – Anoop Antony Joseph
33. Karunagappally – V S Jithin Dev
34. Kunnathur (SC) – Raji Prasad
35. Kottarakkara – R Reshmi
36. Chathannoor – B B Gopakumar
37. Attingal (SC) – Adv P Sudheer
38. Nedumangad – Yuvaraj Gokul