BJP, Cong announce candidates for Kerala polls

BJP national general secretary Arun Singh announced the list of 112 candidates for the Kerala Assembly elections and the Congress party also released its first list of 86 candidates.

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday announced its list of candidates for the assembly election in Kerala and said that the party will contest on 115 seats and 25 seats will be left for allies.

BJP national general secretary Arun Singh announced the list of 112 candidates at the party headquarters in Delhi.

'In Kerala, BJP will be contesting 115 seats and the rest of 25 seats will be left to four parties', Singh said.

State BJP chief K Surendran will contest from two constituencies - from Manjeshwar in Kasaragod and Konni in Pathanamthitta," Singh said. 'Metroman' E Sreedharan, who recently joined the BJP, has been fielded in Palakkad. Former state president Kummanam Rajasekharan will contest in Nemom.

Actor Suresh Gopi is contesting from Thrissur. Former vice-chancellor of Calicut University Abdul Salam is fielded in Tirur.

Former DGP Jacob Thomas will contest from Irinjalakuda and KJ Alphons will contest from Kanjirappally assembly seat, Singh said.

The election for the 140-member Kerala assembly will be held in a single phase on April 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

Meanwhile, the Congress party on Sunday released its first list of 86 candidates for the polls in Kerala.

Former chief minister Oommen Chandy will contest from Puthuppally, while Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala has been fielded from Haripad Assembly constituency.

Sitting MP from Vadakara K Muraleedharan, who is the son of veteran Congress leader K Karunakaran, will contest in Nemom, the only seat in the state currently represented by the BJP.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)