BJP announces 1st list of candidates

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The BJP has announced its first list of 22 candidates, which includes almost all the senior leaders of the party for the ensuing assembly elections. O Rajagopal, P K Krishna Das, V Muraleedharan, Kummanam Rajasekharan, K Surendran, P S Surendran Pillai are among the senior leaders who have found a place in the list.
After the election committee meeting on Sunday , BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan said the list will be submitted to the central leadership.
The second list will be announced in three days and the remaining lists in one week, he added.
Even though there were differences of opinion, the party has decided to field K Surendran in Manjeswaram and Shobha Surendran in Palakkad. The other candidates and their constituencies are: O Rajagopal (Nemom), Kummanam Rajasekharan (Vattiyurkavu), V Muraleedhran (Kazhakottom), P K Krishna Das (Kattakada), P S Sreedhran Pillai (Chengannur), M T Ramesh (Aranmula), George Kurian (Puthupally), C K Padmanabhan (Kunnamangalam), Sadanandan Master C (Koothuparambu), K P Sreesan (Kozhikode North), Ravi Thelath (Thavanur), K K Surendran (Ponnani), Badushah Thangal (Malappuram), Renu Suresh (Kongad), Sha jumon Vattekkad (Chelakkara), A Nagesh (Puthukkad), A N Radhakrishnan (Manalur), N K Mohandas (Ernakulam), N Chandran (Devikulam) and P M Velayudhan (Mavelikkara).
The state leaders will be leaving for New Delhi on March 16 to have a discussion with the central leadership for finalising the candidates.However, no decision has yet been taken on two crucial seats--Thiruvananthapuram Central and Kasaragod.Even though the party wanted K Surendran to be fielded in Thiruvananthapuram Central he turned down the suggestion. The BJP has high hopes on seats like Nemom, Vattiyurkavu, Kazhakuttom and Kattakada in Thiruvananthapuram, where they have fielded the most senior leaders of the party.