Lok Sabha elections: BJP releases fourth list of 15 candidates
What's the story
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released its fourth list of 15 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. The list encompasses names A Namassivayam from Puducherry and RC Paul Kanagaraj from Chennai North. The Lok Sabha elections will be conducted in seven phases between April 19 and June 1 across India. The results of the elections will be announced on June 4.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Tamil Nadu will witness a tripartite battle between the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and a coalition led by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The state has a total of 39 seats while the union territory of Puducherry has one seat. Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP has set the goal of securing 370 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats and is working to win 400 for the NDA.
Details
BJP's fourth list focusses on Chennai North
After naming its nominee for Chennai South on Thursday, the BJP has fielded RC Paul Kanagaraj from Chennai North. Other names include Pon V Balaganapathy for Tiruvallur, A Ashwathaman for Tiruvannamalai, and KP Ramalingam for Namakkal. Additional candidates include AP Muruganandam for Tiruppur, K Vasantharajan for Pollachi, VV Senthilnathan for Karur, Raama Sreenivasan for Madurai and B John Pandia from Tenkasi.
Union territory
Namassivayam fielded from Puducherry
The incumbent Home Minister of Puducherry A Namassivayam will contest for a seat in the Lok Sabha constituency. He will be contesting against the Puducherry Congress chief V Vaithilingam who has been nominated by the INDIA bloc. On Thursday, the saffron party unveiled of its third roster of candidates, which featured K Annamalai from Coimbatore and ex-Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan from Chennai South.
BJP's candidate list
BJP's third list also focuses on Tamil Nadu
With Lok Sabha elections scheduled to begin on April 19, BJP has already released three lists of candidates. The first list with 195 candidates included PM Modi from Varanasi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah from Gujarat's Gandhinagar. Subsequently, the second list with 72 candidates included Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal. The third and fourth lists focus on the state of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Twitter Post
Check out the complete candidate list here
BJP releases the 4th list of the Lok Sabha Candidates from Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. pic.twitter.com/RGSctUWX7A
— ANI (@ANI) March 22, 2024