The BJP’s attempt to field the first MBA graduate from the Paniya tribal community in Mananthavady has failed with the candidate turning down the offer saying he had already told the party he was not keen on contesting.

C. Manikandan, 31, who works as a teaching assistant at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in Wayanad, and is not even a primary member of the party, refused to take the field after finding his name in the BJP’s list of candidates announced on Sunday for the Assembly elections.

“Some local BJP leaders had called me on phone three weeks ago to ask me if I was interested in contesting. But I had clearly told them that I was not inclined to contest as I am not even a BJP sympathiser,” he told The Telegraph on Monday.

But the BJP went ahead and included his name in the candidates’ list.

However, instead of the original name, the party printed his Facebook name Manikuttan in the list.

“At first I thought it was someone else, but later realised they had used my Facebook name,” he said.

“I am not even a BJP sympathiser, let alone a member of that party. All I want to do is to pursue my academics.”

After finding his name in the list, Manikandan went to a BJP convention in Mananthavady on Sunday evening to meet some local leaders. “I told them what transpired when some leaders had called me earlier and requested them to drop my name from the list,” he said.

He named Wayanad district BJP president Saji Sankar and Yuva Morcha leader Akhil Prem among those who met him at the convention on Sunday.

“After sometime, (state BJP president) K. Surendran spoke to me on Saji sir’s phone and tried to convince me to contest. But I explained I had no intention of contesting elections,” Manikandan added.

In a clear message about his ideology, Manikandan on Monday posted a picture of B.R. Ambedkar on his Facebook page along with a condensed version of the leader’s famous quote: “Even if you hang me upside down from this lamppost, I will not betray my people.”

The original quote is: “I shall not deter from my pious duty and betray the just and legitimate interests of my people even if you hang me on the market lamp post in the street.”

Faced with the ignominy of a candidate refusing to contest after being named, the BJP scurried to find an alternative.

“We are fielding district general secretary P. Mohandas in Mananthavady,” Sankar said on Monday.

Asked about the reason to name Manikandan without his permission, Sankar said: “What happened has happened. Now there is no point in talking about it. He was named because he is the first MBA from the Paniya community. Apparently, he was not convinced about contesting.”

His Facebook friends posted affirmative comments like “Jai Bhim” and “respect” over his decision not to contest on a BJP ticket.

Mananthavady is not the only problem area for the BJP. Pathanamthitta district BJP president Ashokan Kulanada, who was named from Thiruvalla constituency, backed off on Monday citing rebellion triggered by the choice.