BJP Announces First List of 47 Candidates for Upcoming Kerala Assembly Elections

Thiruvananthapuram: The BJP which is looking to widen its electoral prospects in Kerala, has released the first list of 47 candidates for the upcoming Assembly Elections. 

In the first list, K Surendran has been fielded from the Manjeshwar, Navya Haridas from Kozhikode North, Advocate George Kurian from Kanjirappally, V. Muraleedharan from Kazhakkoottam and state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar from Nemom.

The Election Commission announced the dates for the assembly election in Kerala on Sunday. The southern state will be voting on April 9 and the results will be declared on May 4.

In the last Assembly election in 2021, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the BJP, saw a decline in its vote share. The saffron party even failed to retain its only seat where the BJP’s veteran leader O Rajagopal had won in 2016. In the 2021 state elections, K Surendran, Kerala's BJP chief had contested from two seats, Konni (Pathanamthitta) and Manjeshwar (Kasargod), and failed to win any of them.

However, in the recent local body polls in December 2025, the BJP's rise has been phenomenal, with the saffron party winning 50 seats in the 101-member municipal corporation in Thiruvananthapuram.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi won the Thrissur seat, and managed to open the saffron party's account in Kerala.

Earlier in the day, Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the elections would determine the future direction of the state. He also expressed confidence that voters were ready for political change. 

"Every Malayali today in Kerala is looking forward to these elections because these are no ordinary elections. I believe the people of Keralam are ready for change; that is our battle cry," he said speaking to reporters.

Expelled CPI MLA CC Mukundan joins BJP

Meanwhile, in a major political move ahead of the assembly elections, CC Mukundan, the sitting MLA from Nattika who was recently expelled from the ruling CPI, joined the BJP on Monday. Mukundan was expelled after he publicly accused CPI of "selling" the Nattika seat. He had then declared his intention to contest as an Independent.

ALSO READ: 'Misrule of Pinarayi Government Will End In 26 Days': Kerala LoP Satheesan After EC Announce Poll Dates