Uttar Pradesh Key Candidates: All eyes are set on Uttar Pradesh which has 80 seats with many stalwarts in the election fray, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While Varanasi is considering electing PM Modi for the third time in a row, all eyes are set on Rahul Gandhi who is contesting from Rae Bareili after losing Amethi in 2019.
COMPLETE ELECTION COVERAGE | KEY CONSTITUENCIES | HOT SEATS
Let's have a look at the key candidates:
- PM Narendra Modi: Narendra Damodardas Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014 and is contesting from Varanasi for the third time. Modi rose within the party and was named a member of its National Election Committee in 1990, helping organise Advani's Ram Rath Yatra in 1990 and Murli Manohar Joshi's 1991–1992 Ekta Yatra (Journey for Unity). Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his whirlwind Lok Sabha poll campaign with a rally in Punjab's Hoshiarpur, closing out his electioneering the way he began -- by focussing on a region where he has invested heavily over the years for the BJP to make a mark outside its strongholds. Modi notched up a total of 206 public-outreach programmes, including rallies and roadshows, since the Election Commission (EC) announced the poll schedule on March 16.
- Rajnath Singh: Rajnath Singh, the Defence Minister has previously served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2000 to 2002 and a Cabinet Minister for Road Transport and Highways in the Vajpayee Government from 1999 to 2000 and the minister of Agriculture from 2003 to 2004. He was a member of Lok Sabha from Lucknow since 2014.
- Rahul Gandhi: Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Rae Bareli, a Congress bastion, in 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He also represents the constituency of Wayanad, Kerala. He previously represented the constituency of Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. He has been Congress party president from December 2017 to July 2019. He lost Amethi seat to Smriti Irani of the BJP in 2014. He spearheaded the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which translates to "Unify India March," was a campaign organized by the Congress party spanning from 2022 to 2023 with the stated primary objective of promoting national unity and solidarity across the various regions of India. On 23 March 2023, Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment under charges of defamation. However, on August 5, the Supreme Court issued a stay on Gandhi's conviction and sentence.
- Smriti Irani: Smriti Zubin Irani, a former television personality has been Minister of Women and Child Development since 2019, and also Minister of Minority Affairs since 2022. She previously served as Minister of Human Resource Development, Minister of Textiles and Minister of Information and Broadcasting. She is the youngest minister (at age 43) in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second ministry in 2019. She has been credited with the win by defeating Rahul Gandhi in 2014 in Amethi. Congress has fielded KL Sharma, a Congress loyalist against Smriti Irani in Amethi.
- Akhilesh Yadav: Akhilesh Yadav, the national president of the Samajwadi Party was also Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2020. He is one of the partners of INDIA bloc. He is contesting from Kannauj in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
- Dimple Yadav: Dimple Yadav is contesting from Mainpuri.
- Ravi Kishan: Ravindra Kishan Shukla is a television personality who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur. A former Congress leader joined BJP in 2017.
- Hema Malini: Hema Malini, a Bollywood actor, had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2004 and was nominated to Rajya Sabha by the President, where she served the Upper House of the Parliament from 2003 to 2009. She contested Lok Sabha Elections for the first time in 2014 from Mathura and emerged victorious, defeating incumbent, Jayant Chaudhary (RLD) by 3,30,743 votes. She repeated her show in 2019 general elections and won from the same seat by defeating RLD's Kunwar Narendra Singh. She has been fielded for the third time from the parliamentary constituency where she is up against Congress candidate Mukesh Dhangar and BSP's Chaudhary Suresh Singh. Mathura went to Lok Sabha polls on April 26 in the second phase of the seven-phased elections.
- Maneka Gandhi: Maneka Gandhi: Maneka Gandhi is contesting from Sultanpur. In 2024 elections, BJP slashed her son Varun Gandhi's ticket.
- Arun Govil: Veteran actor Arun Govil, famed for his role as Lord Ram in the popular TV serial "Ramayan", has been preferred to seasoned parliamentarian Rajendra Agrawal in Meerut by the BJP. He will be contesting against Samajwadi Party (SP)'s Atul Pradhan, the sitting MLA from Sardhana. Actor Arun Govil, who played the role of Lord Ram in Ramanand Sagar's 'Ramayan' TV serial owns a Mercedes worth Rs 62.99 lakh and has moveable assets worth over Rs 3.19 crore.
- Karan Bhushan: Karan Singh, a BJP candidate from Uttar Pradesh's Kaiserganj, is the son of BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. He is contesting his debut election for the Kaiserganj parliamentary seat, which was previously represented by his father, the former Wrestling Federation of India chief, Brij Bhushan Singh. Karan Singh's candidacy comes in the wake of his father's ongoing controversy, as Brij Bhushan Singh, a six-time MP, faces opposition fire over sexual harassment charges brought against him by women wrestlers.
- Jitin Prasada: Jintin Prasad, the BJP candidate from Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency has been the cabinet minister in the UP government since 2021. He is a two-time parliamentarian winning his first term from Shahjahanpur in 2004 and Dhaurahra in 2009. In 2021, he left Congress and joined the BJP. Under the Manmohan government, he served as the Minister of State for Steel, MoS of Petroleum and Natural gas, and MoS of Road, Transport and Highways.
