New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday announced its second list of candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha election in which seven out of six sitting MPs were dropped. Those dropped on the first list included former Union health minister Harsh Vardhan (Chandni Chowk), Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi (New Delhi), former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma’s son Parvesh Verma (West Delhi), and Ramesh Bidhuri (South Delhi).
Although cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir who represents East Delhi announced on social media exhibiting his inability to run this time, the saffron party has announced his replacement as Harsh Malhotra. He is the former mayor of the erstwhile East Delhi Municipal Corporation.
Only Manoj Tiwari retains his ticket
Only Bhojpuri singer Manoj Tiwari who represents North East Delhi retained the seat. However, the list released by BJP on March 13 dropped two other candidates which included Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans, who won from North West Delhi in 2019. Meanwhile, the BJP has fielded Yogendra Chandolia from the North West Delhi seat today. He was a former mayor of the North Delhi.
The BJP has fielded all three general secretaries of the Delhi unit in the Lok Sabha polls. Earlier, the lone woman general secretary of Delhi BJP Kamaljeet Sehrawat was declared as the candidate from the West Delhi constituency.
State BJP president Virendraa Sachdeva in a post on X congratulated Malhotra and Chandolia on being declared as party candidates, saying Delhi is ready to make Narendra Modi the prime minister for the third time in a row by ensuring victory of the party on all seven Lok Sabha seats.
BJP's masterplan against INDIA bloc in Delhi
The BJP is pitted against INDIA bloc partners the AAP and Congress in Delhi for the upcoming polls. Under a seat-sharing agreement, the AAP is contesting four - East Delhi, New Delhi, South Delhi and West Delhi constituencies.
The Congress is yet to announce its candidates on the remaining three - North East Delhi, Chandni Chowk and North West Delhi seats it got from its Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc partner AAP.
