The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released its first list of 27 candidates for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, which includes the names of several prominent leaders from various constituencies across the state. BJP has also given tickets to five women candidates. Among the prominent candidates, former governor and senior BJP leader Tamilisai Sundararajan will contest from Mylapore constituency.
BJP state unit president Nainar Nagendran has been given the ticket to contest elections from Sattur. BJP’s Rashtriya Mahila Morcha (women’s wing) president Vanathi Srinivasan will contest from Coimbatore North. Union Minister of State L. Murugan will contest from the reserved constituency of Avinashi. In Tamil Nadu, the BJP is contesting the elections primarily in alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
Annamalai’s name missing
There was speculation for a long time that former Tamil Nadu BJP president Annamalai would be fielded this time; However, his name was not included in the list released. There were reports that former IPS officer Annamalai wanted to contest from the Coimbatore (North) seat, which is currently held by sitting BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan.
PM Modi will campaign
Other constituent parties of the NDA alliance include regional parties like Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Tamil Nadu Congress and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK). This election seems to be taking the form of a tough contest between NDA and DMK. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will intensify his election campaign in Tamil Nadu from Friday, and seek votes for both his party and the NDA alliance candidates. On Saturday, the Prime Minister is also scheduled to hold a meeting with around 100 party officials, grassroots workers and key stakeholders in Chennai.
Voting on 23rd April
It is worth noting that voting for the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly will be held on April 23. The last date for filing nominations is April 6, and nominations can be withdrawn till April 9. The results of the assembly elections will be declared on May 4. After the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, a total of 56,774,436 voters will exercise their franchise in Tamil Nadu this time. Of these, 1,251,749 voters will cast their vote for the first time. The number of voters above 85 years of age in the state is 399,668. The Election Commission of India has set up a total of 75,032 polling stations for the elections in the state.