BJP new list: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday released another list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has fielded Jaiveer Singh Thakur to take on Samajwadi Party's Dimple Yadav in Mainpuri.
The BJP has fielded Sanjay Tandon from Chandigarh, SS Ahluwalia from Asansol in West Bengal, Praveen Patel from Phulpur, Neeraj Tripathi from Allahabad (Prayagraj) and Vinod Sonkar from Kaushambi. The BJP on Wednesday announced the nomination of former Union minister SS Ahluwalia from the Asansol Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal. Ahluwalia would take on TMC's heavyweight candidate and the party's star face, Shatrughan Sinha, in Asansol, an industrial hub encapsulating the state's coal belt. The BJP had previously replaced Ahluwalia, the party's sitting MP from the Burdwan-Durgapur seat, with former state president Dilip Ghosh as candidate for the constituency.
Neeraj Shekhar, son of former Prime Minister, late Chandra Shekhar, has been named as a candidate for the Ballia Lok Sabha seat replacing the sitting MP Virendra Singh Mast.
Another sitting MP who has been dropped is Dr Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Allahabad. The BJP has given the ticket to Neeraj Tripathi, son of former Speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi. The sitting MP from Phulpur Keshri Devi Patel has also been replaced with Parveen Patel. BP Saroj, MP from Machhlishahr, has been renominated to contest elections.
In Ghazipur, the BJP has named Paras Nath Rai as its candidate. Rai is a close associate of Manoj Sinha, Lt. Governor Jammu and Kashmir. He will challenge Afzal Ansari of the Samajwadi Party (SP). Sitting MP Vinod Sonkar will seek re-election from Kaushambhi for a third term.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) unveiled the poll schedule on March 16.
