Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday announced its list of 27 candidates for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections, with former state president K. Annamalai missing from the lineup after he reportedly declined to contest. Sources said that Annamalai chose not to enter the fray due to dissatisfaction over seat allocation by alliance partner AIADMK.
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BJP has fielded several prominent leaders across constituencies. Union Minister of State L. Murugan will contest from the Avanashi (SC) seat, while former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has been nominated from Mylapore. Sitting MLA and Mahila Morcha national President Vanathi Srinivasan will contest from Coimbatore (North), shifting from her earlier Coimbatore South constituency.
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The partyโs list includes candidates such as M. Rajasimha Mahindra (Avadi), Dr. Nagesh Kumar (Thalli), C. Elumalai (Tiruvannamalai), Dr. S.D. Premkumar (RasipuramโSC), Kirthika Shivkumar (Modakkurichi), Bhojarajan (Udhagamandalam), S. Thangaraj (Tiruppur South), Govi Chandru (Thiruvarur), and M. Muruganandam (Thanjavur).
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Other nominees include C. Udhayakumar (GandharvakottaiโSC), N. Ramachandran (Pudukkottai), Kavitha Srikanth (Aranthangi), K.C. Thirumaran (Tiruppattur), Pon V. Balaganapathy (ManamaduraiโSC), Prof. Raama Sreenivasan (Madurai South), and GBS K. Nagendran (Ramanathapuram).
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The list further features KRM Radhakrishnan (Tiruchendur), Ananthan Ayyasamy (VasudevanallurโSC), S.P. Balakrishnan (Radhapuram), M.R. Gandhi (Nagercoil), T. Sivakumar (Colachel), P. Ramesh (Padmanabhapuram), and S. Vijayadharani (Vilavancode).
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State BJP Chief Nainar Nagenthran will contest from the Sattur constituency, marking his debut from the seat. Meanwhile, S. Vijayadharaniโwho recently joined the BJP from the Congressโhas been fielded from her stronghold in Vilavancode, signaling the partyโs attempt to leverage her local influence.
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Tamil Nadu is set to go to the polls on April 23, with counting scheduled for May 4.
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BJPโs candidate list reflects a blend of experienced leaders and new entrants, even as internal dynamics and alliance negotiations continue to shape the partyโs electoral strategy in the state.
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