Chennai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released its comprehensive list of 27 candidates for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, as part of its alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
The lineup includes five women candidates: Tamilisai Soundararajan, Vanathi Srinivasan, Kirthika Shivkumar, Kavitha Srikanth, and Vijayadharani. Strikingly, however, the party has chosen not to field its former Tamil Nadu president, K Annamalai, highlighting unresolved internal dynamics.
The candidate announcement, anticipated earlier, faced delays as BJP leaders made repeated efforts to persuade Annamalai to join the contest, sources said. Ultimately, he declined to enter the fray.
This comes after Annamalai recently voiced public dissatisfaction with AIADMK over seat-sharing arrangements. He stated that the BJP had been allotted constituencies where it has limited presence. Annamalai’s electoral history in
cludes losses from Aravakurichi in the 2021 Assembly polls and Coimbatore in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Prominent names in the list are M Rajasimha Mahindra (M Ashwiin Kumar) from Avadi; senior leader and former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan from Mylapore; Nagesh Kumar from Thalli; C Elumalai from Tiruvannamalai; and SD Premkumar from Rasipuram.
Additional candidates include Kirthika Shivkumar from Modakkurichi; Bhorarajan from Udhagamandalam; Union Minister of State L Murugan from Avanashi; S Thangaraj from Tiruppur; and Vanathi Srinivasan from Coimbatore North.
The remaining contenders are Govi Chandru (Tiruvarur), M Muruganandham (Thanjavur), C Udhayakumar (Gandharvakottai), N Ramachandran (Pudukottai), Kavitha Srikanth (Aranthangi), C Thirumaran (Tirupattur), Pon V Balaganapathy (Manamadurai), Raama Sreenivasan (Madurai South), Nainar Nagenthran (Sattur), K Nagedran (Ramanathapuram), KRM Radhakrishnan (Tiruchendur), Ananthan Ayyasamy (Vasudevanallur), SP Balakrishnan (Radhapuram), MR Gandhi (Nagercoil), T Sivakumar (Colachel), P Ramesh (Padmanabhapuram), and Vijayadharani (Vilavancode).
Earlier in February, Annamalai sought relief from his role as campaign manager for six seats — Singanallur, Madurai South, Virugambakkam, Karaikudi, Srivaikuntam, and Padmanabhapuram — citing his father’s health as the reason.