T.N. Assembly poll | BJP candidate list out; Union Minister of State L. Murugan to contest from Avanashi

After days of suspense, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a constituent of the AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu, on Friday (April 3, 2026) released the list of all 27 candidates for the upcoming Assembly election in the State.

As widely expected, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan is entering the fray from the Avanashi (Reserved) Assembly segment. In the previous Assembly polls, Mr. Murugan unsuccessfully contested from the Dharapuram (Reserved) segment.

BJP State president Nainar Nagenthran is entering the fray from the Sattur Assembly segment in Virudhunagar district, shifting from his home turf of Tirunelveli. Mr. Nagenthran had contested from the Tirunelveli constituency five times and emerged successful thrice — twice on an AIADMK ticket and once as a BJP nominee.

Former BJP State president and former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan is contesting from the Mylapore Assembly segment in Chennai. This is the fourth time she is entering the fray in an Assembly election in the State.

BJP Mahila Morcha national president and incumbent Coimbatore South MLA Vanathi Srinivasan, who defeated Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president Kamal Haasan by a slender margin, is contesting from Coimbatore North this time, while S. Vijayadharani, who was in the Congress and defected to the BJP, has been given a ticket from Vilavancode, where she had won thrice.

Other candidates include M. Rajasimha Mahindra from Avadi, Nagesh Kumar from Thalli, C. Elumalai from Tiruvannamalai, S.D. Premkumar from Rasipuram (Reserved), Krithika Shivkumar from Modakurichi, Bhojarajan from Udhagamandalam, S. Thangaraj from Tiruppur (South), Govi. Chandru from Tiruvarur, and M. Muruganandam from Thanjavur.

C. Udhayakumar will contest from Gandharvakottai (Reserved), N. Ramachandran from Pudukottai, and Kavitha Srikanth, State president of the BJP’s women’s wing, from Aranthangi. K.C. Thirumaran, who heads an outfit, the South Indian Forward Bloc, will contest from Tirupattur. Pon. V. Balaganapathy will contest from Manamadurai (Reserved), Raama Sreenivasan from Madurai South, GBS K. Nagendran from Ramanathapuram, Ananthan Ayyaswamy from Vasudevanallur (Reserved), K.R.M. Radhakrishnan from Tiruchendur, S.P. Balakrishnan from Radhapuram, incumbent MLA M.R. Gandhi from Nagercoil, T. Sivakumar from Colachel, and P. Ramesh from Padmanabhapuram.

Annamalai snubbed

Former BJP State president K. Annamalai’s name was not on the list. Following the recent constituency allocation exercise by the AIADMK, it had become apparent that it did not have any seat considered “favourable” for him. Yet, in recent days, there were speculations of a likely constituency swap to accommodate Mr. Annamalai. However, it did not fructify.

In a post on X congratulating the candidates, Mr. Annamalai said: “I, as a Karyakarta, will stand shoulder to shoulder and campaign for all our winning BJP and other NDA candidates, with the aim of the NDA winning 210 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections.”