Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala state ministers, top Congress and BJP leaders filed their nomination papers on Saturday for the upcoming Assembly polls.

Several state ministers, including P Rajeev, V Sivankutty, R Bindu and P A Mohamed Riyas as well as CPI(M) leaders K K Shylaja and Kadakampally Surendran were those from the LDF who filed their nominations, from Kalamassery, Nemom, Irinjalakuda, Beypore, Peravur and Kazhakootam constituencies, respectively.

BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Nemom), former Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan (Kazhakootam) and several other candidates of the saffron party filed their nominations accompanied by chief ministers from party-ruled states like Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma accompanied Chandrasekhar and Muraleedharan when they filed their nominations, while the party candidate from Thrissur, Padmaja Venugopal, was accompanied by Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel.

From the Congress, KPCC chief Sunny Joseph, senior party leader K Muraleedharan, actor Ramesh Pisharody and former MP Remya Haridas filed their papers during the day, from Peravur, Vattiyoorkavu, Palakkad and Chirayinkeezhu assembly seats, respectively.

Former CPI(M) leader G Sudhakaran, who left the party and is now backed by the UDF, filed his nomination from the Ambalapuzha constituency.

Several leaders and candidates of the various parties conducted road shows and rallies on their way to filing the nomination papers.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), around 362 candidates have filed their nominations since March 19. The last date for filing nominations is March 23.

Elections will be held for 140 Assembly segments on April 9, with the counting of votes slated for May 4.