The BJP on Thursday announced nine candidates for Tamil Nadu, fielding the party’s much-hyped state president K. Annamalai from Coimbatore, Union minister L. Murugan from the Nilgiris and former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan from Chennai South.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been campaigning extensively in Tamil Nadu and the other southern states, leading an all-out effort to win Lok Sabha seats from a traditionally weak region for the saffron party.
The other prominent names were senior leaders Pon Radhakrishnan from Kanyakumari and A.C. Shanmugam from Vellore. Tamil Nadu goes to polls in the first phase on April 19.
The BJP lacks credible ground leaders in Tamil Nadu and has been looking for alliances and faces to get a foothold in the southern state. The party has aligned with smaller parties like the Pattali Makkal Katchi, the Tamila Manila Congress and a few others.
The BJP is likely to contest around 20 of the state’s 39 Lok Sabha seats and leave the rest for allies.
The BJP leadership had tried to stitch an alliance with former NDA partner AIADMK but did not succeed. The AIADMK had snapped ties early this year, accusing state BJP chief Annamalai of highhandedness.
