“In the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, BJP Leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi has confirmed his candidacy for re-election from Varanasi, while Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh are set to vie for re-election from their constituencies in Gandhinagar and Lucknow, respectively.”
In Short
PM Modi from Varanasi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will once again contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi.
Concurrent with the release of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) preliminary list of 195 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, this decision was taken. The list featured the names of 34 central ministers, including prominent individuals from the constituencies of Gandhinagar and Lucknow, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, respectively.
29 फरवरी, 2024 को प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi की गरिमामयी उपस्थिति और श्री @JPNadda की अध्यक्षता में आयोजित केंद्रीय चुनाव समिति की बैठक में आगामी लोकसभा चुनाव हेतु 195 लोकसभा सीटों के लिए बीजेपी उम्मीदवार के नामों पर मंजूरी दी गई। (1/4) pic.twitter.com/Wv8yVYnegK
— BJP (@BJP4India) March 2, 2024
Additionally, the BJP list also includes two former ministers and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who has been given the ticket once again from Kota, Rajasthan, and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan from Vidisha.
The initial list of candidates put out by the BJP includes twenty-one candidates from West Bengal, twenty from Madhya Pradesh, fifteen from Gujarat and Rajasthan, twelve from Kerala, nine from Telangana, eleven from Assam, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand, and fifty from Uttar Pradesh.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir each have two seats, while Dadra and Nagar Haveli has one. Additionally, Delhi has five seats. In addition, the party replaced 33 incumbent Members of Parliament with new faces.
Highlights of BJP’s Candidates in the First List
BJP has fielded prominent central ministers like Mansukh Mandaviya, Jitendra Singh, Sarbananda Sonowal, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Bhupender Yadav, G. Kishan Reddy, Kiren Rijiju, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rajiv Chandrasekhar, Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Arjun Munda.
Delhi
There have been significant changes in Delhi, with Ramesh Bidhuri, Pravesh Verma, Meenakshi Lekhi, and Harsh Vardhan removed from their seats. Pravesh Verma has been replaced by Pravesh Khandelwal from Chandni Chowk, Kamaljeet Sahrawat from West Delhi, Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, from New Delhi, and Ramveer Singh Bidhuri from South Delhi.
West Bengal
Bhojpuri singer and actor Pawan Singh have been fielded from Asansol in West Bengal. The list also includes 28 women and 47 young leaders. Geeta Koda, a former Congress MP from Jharkhand, has been fielded from Singhbhum (ST Reserved).
Rajasthan
Paralympian Devendra Jhajharia is BJP’s candidate from Churu, Rajasthan, and will replace the current MP Rahul Kaswan. Jhajharia, the first Indian athlete to win two gold medals in Paralympics, expressed gratitude to the party leadership for the ticket.
M.P.
Prominent figures such as former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia have been highlighted by the BJP in Madhya Pradesh.
Bhopal
In Bhopal, former Mayor Alok Sharma has been brought in place of MP Pragya Singh Thakur.
U.P.
In Uttar Pradesh, the party has fielded former Bahujan Samaj Party MP Ritesh Pandey from Ambedkar Nagar, while Hema Malini, Ravi Kishan, Mahesh Sharma, SP Singh Baghel, and Sakshi Maharaj are among those who have been retained from their seats.
Central Minister Smriti Irani, who will contest again from Amethi, is also named in the list.
Also Read : “Transforming India: A Deep Dive into PM Modi’s Game-Changing 17th Lok Sabha”
Kerala
The BJP has fielded Union Minister and three-time Rajya Sabha member Rajiv Chandrasekhar from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This could lead to a potential contest between him and former Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who has served three terms as a member of the Lok Sabha from this constituency.
One of the most surprising inclusions is Ajay Mishra Teni, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, who was set to contest again from Kheri constituency. Teni’s son, Ashish Mishra Teni, was arrested in 2021 for his alleged involvement in running over four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, during the ongoing farmers’ protest. The inclusion of Teni in the list is seen as an attempt to provide justice to the victims affected by the ongoing farmer protests.”
