The Kerala BJP has drawn up a preliminary list of candidates to be fielded in three of the total 20 seats in the State for the lok Sabha election.
As per this list, the party may field former Union Minister and party’s national executive member O Rajagopal in Thiruvananthapuram where, as per reports, sitting MP and Union Minister Shashi Tharoor of the Congress will be the UDF candidate. The CPI(M)-led lDF is yet to start the process of seat-sharing. BJP’s State general secretaries K Surendran and AN Radhakrishnan are likely to be fielded in the Kasaragod and Ernakulam constituencies respectively. In Ernakulam, the Congress is most likely to field sitting MP and Union Minister KV Thomas.
The Kerala BJP is considering fielding national executive member Alphonse Kannanthanam in Pathanamthitta. Kottayam and Chalakkudy also are being considered for fielding Kannanthanam, according to sources. The party will submit a final list of candidates to the central leadership for approval within a week’s time. The other leaders being considered for candidature are State vice-presidents MT Ramesh and PM Velayudhan, national executive members CK Padmanabhan and PS Sreedharan Pillai and senior woman leader Sobha Surendran. Padmanabhan and Ramesh are being considered to be fielded in constituencies in northern Malabar.