Tamilisai Soundararajan to contest from Chennai South, Annamalai, Murugan also in BJP's Tamil Nadu list

Chennai: Former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan will be the BJP candidate from the Chennai South Lok Sabha seat, as per the party's third list released on Thursday.

A former President of the BJP's Tamil Nadu unit and daughter of Congress' former state chief Kumari Anandan, Soundararajan resigned as Telangana Governor and Puducherry Lt Governor earlier this week and rejoined the party.

BJP Tamil Nadu unit President and former IPS officer, K. Annamalai will contest from the Coimbatore seat, Union Minister of State for Fisheries, L.Murugan from the Nilgiris (SC) seat, and former Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan will again contest from Kanniyakumari.

The other candidates are T. Paarivendhar (Perambalur), BJP legislature party leader Nainar Nagendran (Thoothukudi), Vinoj P. Selvam (Chennai Central), Dr A.C.Shanmugham (Vellore), and Dr C. Naraaimham (Krishnagiri).

The BJP had a major success after it struck an alliance with the Vanniyar party, PMK, which has deep inroads and a dedicated vote bank in several districts of northern Tamil Nadu. The BJP also has a base in Coimbatore and Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha seats which it had won once.

Annamalai's six-month-long padayatra 'En Mann, En Makkal' had been well received across the state.