Eighteen of BJP's twenty candidates in Tamil Nadu are leaders who defected from other parties.

While there are a few defectors fielded in Tamil Nadu, some new faces and first-timers have been given a nod by the BJP in the state.

While there are a few defectors fielded in Tamil Nadu, some new faces and first-timers have been given a nod by the BJP in the state.Subramanian Swamy, a senior BJP leader, had tweeted expressing his displeasure that out of the 20 candidates announced by the BJP in Tamil Nadu, 18 of them defected from other parties with no past connection with RSS or Jana Sangh vintage. Tamil Nadu is set to head to the polls in a single-phase election on April 6. 2021.

As we examine the candidates' list released by the BJP, we found that some defectors have been given the ticket to contest in the upcoming elections. Khushbu Sundar, Dr. P Saravanan, and Nainar Nagendran are contesting from BJP after jumping ship from other parties.

Others have been given the ticket for the first time or have been active either in BJP or RSS. C.K. Saraswathi, a doctor, has been fielded from the Modakkurichi Assembly constituency for the first time. BJP national secretary H. Raja is fielded from Karaikudi, and BJP state president L Murugan will contest from Dharapuram. Former IPS officer and Tamil Nadu's BJP Vice President, K Annamalai and Vanathi Srinivasan, who is a lawyer by profession and an RSS ideologue, are contesting for the first time. Meanwhile, D Kuppuramu, a former state president of VHP, is also contesting from the Ramanathapuram constituency. BJP’s youth wing leader Vinoj P Selvam is given the party ticket from the Harbour constituency.

Since some of the candidates fielded by BJP either belong to the party or RSS, we mark the claim as misleading.