No surprise candidate in T'puram, a popular leader will contest polls: Kummanam Rajasekharan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not yet been able to find a candidate in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency, where the party has high hopes for the Lok Sabha elections. While the picture is almost clear in Thrissur and Attingal, there is no sign of a candidate in the capital constituency, where the party has a large vote share. The names of Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar and Rajeev Chandrasekhar are being mentioned but no official information has come out about it.

Now the former state president Kummanam Rajasekharan has come forward with a response on this issue. He said that there will be no surprise candidate tied to the party in the constituency and a person who has experience working among the people of Kerala will become the candidate. "The Ram sentiment raised in Ayodhya will also ripple in Kerala. Ayodhya will turn into votes in Kerala," he said.

There is a firm hope that the support of the Christian minorities will be with the BJP this time. "The BJP's padayatra got a big reception from the Christian community. The state government is constantly taking cases against Christian priests in Kerala. The Christians who realize the neglect faced by the community will stand with the BJP," he added.

In 2019, Kummanam Rajasekharan contested against Shashi Tharoor from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency. But he was defeated by one lakh votes. In Assembly election, the BJP lost its sitting seat in Nemom to V Sivankutty. Kummanam Rajasekharan had also failed in 2016 when he contested in Vattiyoorkavu.