K Surendran has been serving as the state unit president of the BJP since 2020.
Trivandrum:
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday announced its candidates for the remaining four seats in Kerala, fielding state president K Surendran and Congress leader Rahul in the high-profile Wayanad constituency. Rahul Gandhi competition.
Academic and former vice-chancellor of Sri Sankara Sanskrit University KS Radhakrishnan and actor-turned-politician G Krishnakumar will contest from Ernakulam and Kollon constituencies respectively.
Former public university chancellor TN Sarasu will seek electoral luck from Alatur in north Palakkad district.
The BJP is trying to break from decades of bipolar politics dominated by the Congress-led United Democratic Forces and the Communist Party of India (M)-led Kerala Militant.
The party earlier announced candidates for 12 seats. Its ally BDJS will contest four seats in the state.
With Surendran unexpectedly elected as candidate in the traditional Congress bastion of Wayanad, the BJP is trying to give its rival a fitting by fielding a strong candidate against Rahul Gandhi reply. Communist Party of India’s Annie Raja is the candidate of the state’s ruling Left in this constituency.
Mr. Surendran, the face of the saffron party’s strong opposition to young women’s entry into Sabarimala years ago, has been the BJP state unit president since 2020.
Kunnummel Surendran hails from Ulleyeri in Kozhikode district and started his career as the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s Wayanad ) district president, who unsuccessfully contested against Pathanamthitta in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Although he was defeated by Kony in the parliamentary elections of the same year, he was unsuccessful.
Surendran, known as a close friend of Union Minister V Muraleedharan, lost the Manjeswaram constituency in the 2016 assembly polls by just 89 votes.
KS Radhakrishnan is a renowned scholar, author, speaker and academician who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019.
Before starting his political career, he served as Vice-Chancellor of Sri Sankara Sanskrit University, Kaladis and Chairman of the State Public Service Commission during the Congress-led Democratic Alliance government.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he contested from Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency but lost.
G Krishnakumar, 55, is an actor-turned-politician and is currently a member of the National Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In 2021, Krishnakumar contested from Thiruvananthapuram for the BJP to the state assembly.
Former government university president TN Sarasu, who hit the headlines for his confrontation with the Left Students Union, will contest from Alatur, against sitting MP and Congress leader Remya Haridas and state Dewaswom Minister and senior CPI(M) leader K Radhakrishnan is contesting.
The 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala will go to polls on April 26.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
