Chandrashekhar will face off against Shashi Tharoor
The BJP came out with its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Saturday, announcing 195 candidates across 16 States and two Union Territories.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will contest from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, his parliamentary seat for the last two general elections.
Of the 195 candidates, 107 belong to backward communities, with 27 Scheduled Caste candidates, 18 Scheduled Tribe candidates, and 57 from other backward classes (OBCs).
There are 28 women candidates in the list, and 47 candidates who are under the age of 50.
One Muslim candidate, Abdul Salam, has been fielded from Malappuram in Kerala.
The list for the southern States of Kerala and Telangana has seen much accommodation for newcomers.
RajeevnChandrashekhar from Thiruvananthapuram; Anil Antony, the son of former Defence Minister A.K. Antony, from Pathanamtitha; and Suresh Gopi from Thrissur. In Telangana, Lok Sabha MP B.B. Patil, newly inducted from the BRS, has been fielded from Zahirabad.
“I thank the @BJP4India leadership and bow to the crores of selfless Party Karyakartas for their constant faith in me. I look forward to serving my sisters and brothers of Kashi for the third time,” the Prime Minister said in a post on X.
“In 2014, I went to Kashi to fulfill people’s dreams and empower the poorest of the poor. Over the last ten years, we have made significant progress across various sectors and worked towards a better Kashi. These efforts will continue with even greater vigor. I would also like to convey a special gratitude to the people of Kashi for their blessings, which I cherish greatly,” he said.
Controversial sitting MPs — like Malegaon blast case accused Pragya Singh Thakur from Bhopal, and Ramesh Bidhuri from South Delhi who was accused of casting communal slurs at fellow MP Danish Ali on the floor of the Lok Sabha — have been replaced by former Bhopal mayor Alok Sharma, and Ram Vir Singh Bidhuri, respectively.
There are 34 Union Ministers who have found a place in the first list, including Ministers Rajnath Singh (contesting again from Lucknow), Amit Shah (from Gandhinagar), and Smriti Irani (from Amethi). However, Minister of State Meenakshi Lekhi has been dropped from her New Delhi seat.
Interestingly, the former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan, now a regular MLA in the State, will fight for a Lok Sabha seat from Vidisha, while Biplab Deb, former Chief Minister of Tripura will be contesting from Tripura (West).
Among the Ministers who were Rajya Sabha MPs and are now in the fray for the Lok Sabha are Labour Minister Bhupendra Yadav, who is being fielded from Alwar in Rajasthan, Health Minister Mansukhbhai Mandaviya from Porbandar in Gujarat, and Rajeev Chandrashekhar from Thiruvananthapuram who will face off against Congress MP, Shashi Tharoor.
The list, finalised after major consultations and a marathon meeting of the Central Election Committee (CEC) on February 29, is interesting in the dramatic changes to the line up for Delhi, presaged by East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir ruling himself out from the contest hours before the announcement.
However, almost no changes have been made to the list of 51 candidates announced for Uttar Pradesh. The State saw the repeat of 43 sitting MPs, including cine star Hema Malini from Mathura.
New names have been announced for seats where the BJP lost in 2019, including Shravasti where Saket Mishra, son of Nripendra Mishra, former principal secretary to the Prime Minister, will be contesting.
The surprise choice in U.P. emerged from Jaunpur, where Mumbai-based Kripashankar Singh, formerly a Congress MLA and Minister in that party’s government in Maharashtra, has been fielded instead of Krishna Pratap.