TN Poll 2016: BJP announces 54 candidates in 1st list

Chennai, Mar 27: BJP national secretary H Raja and two state vice presidents are among the 54 persons in the party's first list of candidates released for the May 16 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.

According to the list of candidates put up on the BJP's national website, Raja, a former Karaikudi MLA, will contest from T Nagar in Chennai which has traditionally favoured DMK or AIADMK.

BJP's state vice president and prominent woman leader Vanathi Sreenivasan has been fielded from Coimbatore (South) while another vice president M Chakravarthy will fight from Tiruthani, as per the details on the website.

Known for making controversial remarks, Raja had earlier unsuccessfully contested from Alandur during the 2006 Assembly polls. Sreenivasan, a familiar face in TV debates, was the party's choice for Mylapore constituency in the city for the 2011 Assembly elections which was won by AIADMK.

The party named its candidates for 54 constituencies including six reserved seats. Karuppu Muruganantham, who unsuccessfully contested from Thanjavur for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, is fighting from Pattukottai constituency this time.

In Vedaranyam constituency in Nagapattinam district, BJP has fielded former DMK strongman and three-time MLA S K Vedaratnam, who contested as an independent in the 2011 assembly polls.

The Central Election Committee of BJP had announced the list of 54 candidates for the Tamil Nadu assembly polls at Delhi yesterday and said that a second list would be issued after talks with IJK and NJP fructify in the coming days.

PTI