BJP RELEASES CANDIDATES LIST FOR TN POLLS, ANNAMALAI LEFT OUT

Chennai: BJP released the list of candidates for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections on Friday, fielding state president Nainar Nagenthran from Sattur, Tamilisai Soundararajan from Mylapore, Vanathi Srinivasan from Coimbatore (North), and Union minister L Murugan from Avinashi.Former state president K Annamalai has not been given a ticket despite intense discussion within the party over his candidature. While Kirthika Shivkumar, daughter-in-law of sitting BJP MLA C Saraswathi, will contest from Modakkurichi, S Thangaraj, son of Hindu Munnani leader Kadeswara Subramaniam, has been fielded in Tiruppur (South). M Bhojarajan, who contested and failed in Udhagamandalam in the 2021 elections, is the only renominated person in the 2026 list.In south TN, S Vijayadharani, who quit Congress last year to join BJP, will contest from Vilavancode, while MR Gandhi has been given the Nagercoil seat.The list also includes Raama Sreenivasan from Madurai South and Ananthan Ayyasamy from Vasudevanallur (SC). In two seats, where BJP will face its rival Congress — Colachel and Padmanabhapuram — T Sivakumar and P Ramesh have been given a ticket.