In the midst of large-scale speculations over picking the candidates for the assembly polls in the state where it has a stumbling party base, the Central ruling BJP has combinedly presented shocks and surprises as the party has on Sunday unveiled the first list of candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in Tamil Nadu. 

BJP has been riding in the state ruling ADMK alliance and recently, after hectic parleys and talks, the ADMK had inked a deal with BJP by agreeing to offer 20 seats for the Central ruling party. With the deal in place, the BJP had begun its work of identifying the constituencies and finalizing the candidates. The saffron party had last week released the list of constituencies that it will be contesting. 

The following are the 20 constituencies that BJP will be contesting - Tiruvannamalai, Nagercoil, Colachel, Vilavancode, Ramanathapuram, Modakurichi, Chennai Port, Thousand Lights, Thirukovilur, Thittakudi, Coimbatore South, Virudhunagar, Aravakurichi, Thiruvaiyaru, Ooty, Tirunelveli, Thalli (Krishnagiri), Karaikudi, Dharapuram, and Madurai North. 

Of these 20 constituencies, BJP has chosen three constituencies -Nagercoil, Colachel, and Vilavancode from Kanyakumari district as the Central ruling party will be contesting in the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha by-poll and these three constituencies would fall under Kanyakumari parliamentary constituency. Senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Pon. Radhakrishnan will be contesting in the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha by-poll, which will take place on April 6. 

Days after releasing the list of constituencies, the BJP had released the first list of candidates for 17 seats on Sunday. The release has come after the state BJP leaders had held extensive discussion with the Central leadership including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President JP Nadda over finalizing the candidates and it was speculated that some from the pile of celebrities will be awarded the tickets to contest in the polls. 

Amid the speculations, BJP's National General Secretary Arun Singh has released the list of 17 candidates for the Tamil Nadu polls on Sunday. In the statement, he said, "The Central Election Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party met today (Sunday) under the Presidentship of Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda ji. The meeting was attended by Shri Narendra Modi, Hon'ble Prime Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence, Shri Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs, and other members of the Central Election Commission of the BJP".

The list had shocked and surprised many and raised many eyebrows for the party's fashion of release. At first, the list had drawn massive criticism as the names of the candidates were released in English and Hindi for the polls in Tamil Nadu where either of the languages fall behind Tamil. The activists and oppositions criticized that BJP has begun imposing Hindi through this fashion even before the assembly polls. What had surprised many is that the pick of candidates where some of the senior leaders and newbies for the party have been awarded the ticket. 

Tamil Nadu BJP President L Murugan will be contesting from the Dharapuram constituency and he will be taking on DMK's Kayalvizhi Selvaraj while BJP's Vinoj Selvam will be battling against DMK's Sekar Babu in Harbour. Actor turned politician Kushboo Sundar, who recently joined BJP, will be contesting from Thousand Lights, one of the key constituencies in Chennai. She will be taking on DMK's Dr. Elizhan. BJP has offered tickets to Thanigaivel, Kalivarathan, and Dr. CK Sarawathi to contest in Tiruvannamalai, Tirukkoyilur, and Modakkurichi constituencies respectively. 

Coimbatore South has become one of the most watching constituencies in Tamil Nadu as the BJP has fielded its National Mahila Morcha President Vanathi Srinivasan in Coimbatore South and she will be taking MNM Chief Kamal Haasan and Congress's Mayura Jayakumar. BJP Tamil Nadu Vice President Annamalai, who was former IPS, has got the ticket to contest in Aravakurichi and he has been expected to be one of the key leaders in the state to enhance the party's base. 

Former National Secretary H Raja will be contesting from the Karaikudi constituency, from where he was elected in 2001 while former ADMK minister Nainar Nagendran will be contesting from Tirunelveli. Nagendran had stunned many by filing nominations even before he was awarded a ticket from the party officially and Pandurangan will be contesting from Virudhunagar, Kuppuram from Ramanathapuram, MR Gandhi from Nagercoil, and Ramesh from Colachel in Kanyakumari district. 

What had shocked the DMK was the BJP's ticket to legislator Saravanan. Saravanan has been a DMK MLA and representing the Thiruparankundram constituency in the current assembly. Saravanan was expecting the ticket from DMK this time to contest from this seat again. However, DMK had allotted Thiruparankundram to its ally Communist party and Saravanan was denied a ticket following which he developed disappointment over the party's leadership. After knowing that he was denied a ticket, he was mulling on the switch side and to join BJP. Giving a shock to DMK, Saravanan had on Sunday morning joined BJP and in the evening, he has got BJP's ticket to contest in the polls from Madurai North constituency. According to reports, it has been expected that the BJP will be announcing the candidates for the rest of the three constituencies - Vilavancode, Thalli, and Udhagamandalam on Tuesday.