Assembly Election 2026: BJP gears up, releases new list of candidates for Kerala, Puducherry and Assam

News India Live, Digital Desk: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released another important list of candidates on Saturday (21 March), giving edge to its election campaign for the Assembly elections 2026. The party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) has announced its third list for Kerala, first list for Puducherry and names of candidates for Assam after intensive brainstorming. These names have been finalized after the meeting held in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Kerala: Big preparations to bloom ‘Lotus’ in the South (Third List) BJP has so far declared the names of more than 97 candidates for the elections to be held on 140 seats in Kerala. The third list released on Saturday includes 11 prominent names: Thiruvananthapuram: Karamana Jayan has been fielded from here.Puthupalli: Ravindranath Vakathanam will be the face of BJP in the stronghold of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.Kovalam: T.N. Suresh will contest.Other prominent names: Vivek Gopan from Aruvikkara, KR from Chavara. Rajesh and Pandalam Prathapan have been given tickets from Adoor (SC). Strategy: The party has expressed confidence in experienced faces and leaders with local influence to strengthen its presence in South Kerala. Puducherry: ‘Masterplan’ to retain power (first list) BJP has released its first list of 9 candidates for the 30 seats of the Union Territory of Puducherry. Here BJP is contesting elections in alliance with AINRC: Major candidates: A. from Mannadipet. Namashivayam, Raj Bhavan to V.P. Ramalingam and A from Mudaliarpet. John Kumar has been made the candidate. Alliance: Under NDA, BJP will contest on 10 seats here, while AINRC candidates will be on 16 seats. Assam: Focus on Upper Assam and Barak Valley. For Assam also, BJP has decided the names of candidates on strategically important seats: Digboi: Jiten Nag has got the ticket from here. Sonai (Cachar): Shahjahan Laskar BJP. Will be the candidates of.Udhaarbandh: Tapas Das has been fielded.Elections 2026: Important dates at a glanceElection bugle has sounded in these states as per the schedule announced by the Election Commission:Polling date: Kerala, Assam and Puducherry will vote in a single phase on 9 April 2026.Results: The election results of all the states (including West Bengal and Tamil Nadu) will be declared on 4 May 2026.Voters Number: About 17.4 crore voters in these states will participate in this great festival of democracy this time. Political equation: Competition is tough. While in Kerala, BJP is trying to create a triangular contest between the ruling LDF and the opposition UDF, in Puducherry it is trying to save its current power. In Assam, the party is in the fray with the intention of scoring a ‘hat-trick’.