Kerala BJP president K Surendran is set to contest from Wayanad, the constituency where incumbent MP and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is running again.

It is not yet clear if Congress will also field Rahul Gandhi from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi, where he lost in 2019.

Who is K Surendran?

1. K Surendran is a prominent leader from north Kerala who became the BJP state president in 2020.

2. He contested the Lok Sabha elections from Pathanamthitta constituency in 2019 and secured the third position.

3. During the Sabarimala agitation in 2018, Surendran was arrested and spent over a month in jail.

4. In the 2021 Kerala assembly polls, he contested from two constituencies, Manjeswaram and Konni, but lost both contests.

5. Surendran and five others were accused of threatening and bribing K Sundara, a BSP candidate in the Manjeshwaram assembly election in 2021, to withdraw from the race.

With Sunday’s announcement, the ruling party has completed the selection of 398 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. This count excludes four candidates who withdrew their nominations amidst controversies. The BJP’s nominee list now stands nearly complete for the 543-member assembly.

BJP’s 5th candidates list for Lok Sabha election | Top points

• The ruling party has now finalised 398 nominees for the Lok Sabha elections, excluding four controversial withdrawals, out of the 543-member assembly.

• Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut, known for her vocal support of the BJP, will contest from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, while veteran actor Arun Govil, renowned for his portrayal of Lord Ram in “Ramayan,” will stand in Meerut.

• Sita Soren, sister-in-law of former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, joins the BJP as a candidate from Dumka after leaving the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

• Former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar, who briefly left the BJP for the Congress before returning, will contest from Belgaum.

• Ex-Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay will represent the BJP in Tamluk, West Bengal, while Dilip Ghosh moves from Medinipur to Bardhaman–Durgapur, replacing S S Ahluwalia.

• The BJP has also announced candidates from various states, including seven from Rajasthan, four each from Haryana, Karnataka, and Kerala, 18 from Odisha, and three each from Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

• In Andhra Pradesh, party president D Purandeswari will contest from Rajahmundry, and former CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy from Rajampet, as the BJP finalised its picks for all six Lok Sabha seats in the state.

• Additionally, BJP vice president Baijayant Panda will contest from Kendrapara, a constituency he has represented twice as a BJD member.