(Image source from: Twitter.com/INCIndia)

The Congress party has made changes to their candidate list for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections following Padmaja Venugopal's decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party. Padmaja's brother, K Muraleedharan, who is currently the Member of Parliament for Vadakara, has been nominated to contest from Thrissur. In a surprising move, Shafi Parambil, who defeated the BJP's E Sreedharan in the 2021 Palakkad legislative seat, will now be the Congress candidate in Vadakara. Rahul Gandhi will once again be the Congress candidate in Wayanad, where he will face off against CPI leader Annie Raja. The Vadakara and Thrissur constituencies have strong candidates from various parties, with Shafi going up against CPI(M) stalwart KK Shailaja in Vadakara, and Muraleedharan facing competition from the BJP's Suresh Gopi and the CPI's VS Sunil Kumar in Thrissur.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is involved in several key contests in the upcoming elections. For instance, K Sudhakaran, the current MP and president of the Kerala Congress Pradesh Committee, is vying for a seat in Kannur. Meanwhile, the LDF has chosen MV Jayarajan as their candidate. In Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, a three-time MP, is seeking re-election and will be up against Pannyan Raveendran of the LDF and Rajeev Chandrasekhar of the BJP. The Pathanamthitta constituency is also of interest as the incumbent Congress MP Anto Antony faces tough competition from CPI(M) leader Thomas Isaac and BJP's Anil Antony, who switched from the Congress last year. There is also speculation that Padmaja Venugopal, a recent defector to the BJP, may be fielded in Chalakkudy, while the Congress is relying on incumbent MP Benny Bahanan. Surprisingly, TN Prathapan, the sitting MP of Thrissur and a strong candidate, has been left out. Party workers had already begun campaigning for him, but Prathapan has expressed his willingness to step aside if the party deems it necessary.