BJP’s Lok Sabha election candidates list: 21% sitting MPs dropped from respective constituencies

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday released the second list of 72 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, naming 267 candidates so far. Nearly 21% of sitting MPs have not been repeated from their respective constituencies, reported NDTV.

In the first list, only 33 MPs were replaced out of 195 candidates named, while in the second list of 72 names, 30 MPs were replaced. Overall, 140 sitting MPs have been repeated, and 67 have not been given tickets, including two who opted not to contest.

The second list includes 20 candidates each from Maharashtra and Karnataka, seven from Gujarat, six each from Telangana and Haryana, five from Madhya Pradesh, two each from Delhi, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and one each from Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Delhi

In the national capital, the party changed all but one sitting MP – Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi. Five of the six MPs who were dropped this time – Harsh Vardhan, Meenakshi Lekhi, Pravesh Sahib Singh, and Ramesh Bidhuri – have been holding their seats since 2014.

Maharashtra

In Maharashtra, the BJP has announced candidates for 20 of the 23 seats that the party won in the 2019 elections. Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Raosaheb Danve are among the candidates announced on Wednesday. Of the 20 names announced, 14 MPs were repeated, with five getting their tickets cancelled. Pankaja Munde was fielded from the family bastion of Beed, replacing her sister Pritam Munde.

Gujarat

Gujarat saw only three out of seven sitting MPs repeated, with notable omissions like Darshana Jardosh in Surat, where it fielded Mukesh Bhai Chandrakant Dalal.

Haryana

Similarly, in Haryana, three sitting MPs were repeated out of six candidates declared. The BJP fielded Banto Kataria, the wife of its deceased leader and former MP Rattan Lal Kataria, from Ambala, a seat which was believed to be coveted by former Haryana minister Anil Vij. The MP from Sirsa in Haryana, Suneeta Duggal, was also dropped in favour of Ashok Tanwar, a Congress turncoat.

Telangana

In Telangana, the majority of the candidates who were given the BJP tickets for the Lok Sabha elections are defectors from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Congress.

“Out of 15 MP candidates finalised so far, as many as 10 candidates are defectors from other parties in the last four to five years. The genuine and loyal leaders have been ignored,” a BJP leader said on condition of anonymity.

Madhya Pradesh

Of the five Madhya Pradesh candidates declared in the second list, two MPs have been repeated and two dropped, reported NDTV. In the first list, 10 sitting MPs, including Bhopal MP Pragya Thakur, were dropped.

Karnataka

In Karnataka, 11 MPs were replaced out of 20 candidates declared. In a notable change, Pratap Simha has been replaced from the Mysuru constituency with Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar of the Mysuru Royal family. A Vokkaliga leader Shobha Karandlaje has been moved to the Bengaluru North constituency. Nalin Kumar Kateel, a former BJP state president, has also been dropped from the list, with Captain Brijesh Chowta contesting from Dakshina Kannada.