LS Polls: Kangana Ranaut ‘in’, Varun Gandhi ‘out’ in BJP’s 5th candidate list

According to the list, union ministers Ashwini Kumar Choubey and V K Singh, along with MP Varun Gandhi, were omitted from the list. Instead, the party nominated actors Kangana Ranaut and Arun Govil.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will vie for the Sambalpur seat, while the party’s spokesperson, Sambit Patra, will make another attempt from Puri after narrowly missing out in 2019.

Also Read: BJP 5th candidate list 2024 LIVE

However, the BJP has decided not to field former Union minister Anantkumar Hegde, who has served six terms as a Lok Sabha member from Uttara Kannada, in the upcoming elections. Known for his staunch Hindutva stance, Hegde has frequently sparked controversies with his statements, including a recent remark advocating for a significant BJP mandate to amend the Constitution.

In the latest list of candidates, the BJP has refrained from granting tickets to approximately 37 sitting Members of Parliament, with nine being from Uttar Pradesh, five from Gujarat, four from Odisha, and three each from Bihar, Karnataka, and Jharkhand.

The tally of incumbent MPs not receiving tickets does not encompass individuals who have recently won assembly elections, such as Diya Kumari and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in Rajasthan, or those like Nayab Singh Saini, who assumed office as Haryana chief minister, and Brijendra Singh, who has already resigned from the party.

Several leaders who switched from other parties to join the BJP have been nominated, including industrialist Naveen Jindal and Varaprasad Rao, who were formally inducted mere hours before the candidate list was unveiled. Additionally, figures like Sita Soren, Tapas Roy, and N Kiran Kumar Reddy have also been rewarded with tickets.

Also Read: BJP 5th candidate list 2024: Will Varun Gandhi contest as independent after BJP drops him from Pilibhit?

Kerala BJP president K Surendra has been selected as the candidate for the Wayanad constituency, where incumbent MP and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is also contesting.

In West Bengal’s Basirhat constituency, the BJP has nominated Rekha Patra, reportedly one of the victims of the Sadeshkhali incident, as part of its strategy to challenge the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state.

For the 17 seats it is contesting in Bihar, the BJP has announced its candidates, including the re-nomination of Union minister Giriraj Singh from Begusarai and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib.

Union ministers R K Singh and Nityanand Rai have been nominated to contest from their respective current seats. Additionally, in Uttar Pradesh, the ruling party has announced the names of 13 more candidates.

Varun Gandhi, a three-term Lok Sabha MP known for expressing views critical of his party’s governments at the Centre and in the state, has been denied a ticket from Pilibhit. However, his mother, Maneka Gandhi, has been renominated from Sultanpur.

Also Read: BJP 5th candidate list: Netizens cheer ‘Sherni’ Kangana Ranaut’s candidature, say ‘where are Thackerays, Sanjay Raut’

Jitin Prasada, a minister in the state government, has been chosen as the party’s candidate from Pilibhit, while Atul Garg will replace two-term MP V K Singh in Ghaziabad. Singh announced his decision to opt out of the polls in a post on X hours before the party released the list.

The latest list includes three leaders who joined the BJP on Sunday: Naveen Jindal from Kurukshetra, Haryana government minister Ranjit Chautala from Hisar (both in Haryana), and Varaprasad Rao from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.

With the addition of these 111 candidates, the ruling party has now named a total of 398 nominees for the elections to the 543-member Lok Sabha, excluding the four candidates who withdrew their names following controversies.

Actress Kangana Ranaut, a vocal supporter of the BJP, will be contesting from Mandi in her home state of Himachal Pradesh. Meanwhile, veteran actor Arun Govil, renowned for his portrayal of Lord Ram in the popular TV serial “Ramayan”, has been chosen over seasoned parliamentarian Rajendra Agrawal for the Meerut constituency by the ruling party.

Also Read: BJP 5th candidate list 2024: Ex-Calcutta HC judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay gets Lok Sabha poll ticket from Bengal’s Tamluk

Sita Soren, who is the sister-in-law of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, has been nominated as the BJP’s candidate from Dumka. She recently resigned from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who had briefly joined the Congress last year before returning to the BJP, will now contest from Belgaum.

In West Bengal, the BJP has announced 19 more candidates, including former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay for Tamluk constituency.

Dilip Ghosh, the sitting MP from Medinipur, has been moved to Bardhaman–Durgapur constituency, while the incumbent S S Ahluwalia has been dropped.

The BJP has announced the names of seven candidates from Rajasthan, four each from Haryana, Karnataka, and Kerala, and 18 from Odisha, along with three each from Maharashtra and Jharkhand, among candidates from various states.

In Andhra Pradesh, D Purandeswari, the state president of the BJP, will be contesting from Rajahmundry, while former chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will be contesting from Rajampet. The party has finalized its candidates for all six Lok Sabha seats in the state, where it is contesting in alliance with the TDP and the Jana Sena.

BJP vice president Baijayant Panda will be contesting from Kendrapara, a constituency he has previously represented in the Lok Sabha twice as a BJD member.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Published: 25 Mar 2024, 07:50 AM IST