BJP candidate against Priyanka Gandhi in Wayanad is...

The Bharatiya Janata Party announced on Saturday that Navya Haridas, a two-time councillor in the Kozhikode Corporation, will be the National Democratic Alliance candidate for the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election.

Haridas will be pitted against Congress's Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Communist Party of India's Sathyan Mokeri, the Left candidate, in the high-profile constituency in the 13 November by-election.

As the BJP released its candidate list for the upcoming by-elections in various states, Haridas, a young woman leader in the saffron party, was named as the party's nominee for this crucial seat.

A software engineer by profession, Haridas serves as the parliamentary party leader for the BJP in the corporation.

She is also the state general secretary of the Mahila Morcha, according to party sources.

The by-election for Wayanad LS seat became necessary after Rahul Gandhi, who won the Lok Sabha polls from there and Rae Bareli constituency, decided to vacate it.

Meanwhile, BJP state general secretary C Krishnakumar would contest in Palakkad assembly constituency where the saffron party is pinning its hope to win the most in the upcoming bypolls in the state.

During the previous Assembly polls, the party had come to an impressive second position in Palakkad through "Metroman' E Sreedharan, who was defeated by Congress's Shafi Parambil in a tight contest.

Though the names of several high profile leaders, including senior leader Shobha Surendran was doing the rounds in the segment, the party high command chose Krishnakumar finally.

Youth Congress state president Rahul Mamkootathil and expelled Congress digital media convenor P Sarin would be the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist candidates in the constituency respectively.

In Chelakkara assembly constituency, K Balakrishnan would be the party candidate, as per the BJP candidate list.

Former MLA U R Pradeep and ex-MP Ramya Haridas would be the CPI (M) and Congress candidates respectively in Chelakkara during the bypoll.

Bypolls are being held for Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly constituencies as the MLAs from there -- Shafi Parambil and K Radhakrishnan respectively -- were elected to the Lok Sabha this year.

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Babulal Marandi, Champai Soren in BJP's list of Jharkhand candidates

The BJP on Saturday released its first list of 66 candidates for the Jharkhand assembly elections, fielding party president Babulal Marandi from Dhanwar and former chief minister Champai Soren from Saraikela.

The party named Sita Soren, the sister-in-law of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader and Chief Minister Hemant Soren, as its nominee from Jamtara.

The list also has the names of Geeta Kora and former Union minister Sudarshan Bhagat.

Assembly polls will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20 and counting will take place on November 23.

The BJP is contesting 68 of the 81 assembly seats in the state, leaving the rest for its allies.

Former Jharkhand chief minister and BJP state president Babulal Marandi won Dhanwar seat in Giridih in 2019 by a margin of 17,550 votes on a Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) ticket against his nearest rival Lakshman Prasad Singh of the BJP.

Champai Soren, who contested from Seraikela, joined the BJP on August 30, two days after he resigned from the JMM citing 'insult' and dissatisfaction with the party's current style of functioning and facing 'bitter humiliation'.

The joining of the 67-year-old-leader in the BJP was seen as a significant boost for the party's efforts to strengthen its connection with the Scheduled Tribes, a strong support base of the JMM.

Champai Soren was appointed chief minister on February 2, following Hemant Soren's resignation and subsequent arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.

He left the post on July 3, clearing the way for Hemant Soren to resume office on July 4 after being granted bail.

In the 2019 elections, he had won the Seraikela seat on the JMM ticket by a margin of 15,667 votes over his nearest rival Ganesh Mahali of the BJP.

Geeta Kora, the lone Congress MP in the state, had joined the BJP before this year's Lok Sabha elections and contested from the Singhbhum Lok Sabha seat. However, JMM's Joba Majhi won Singhbhum by a huge margin of 1.68 lakh votes defeating her nearest rival Kora.

The party is looking to topple the JMM-led alliance from power in the two-phase polls scheduled for November 13 and 20.