BJP 2nd List For LS Polls: 21% Sitting MPs Dropped, At Least 25 New Faces

The BJP, which has set a target of 370 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, has dropped 21 per cent of sitting MPs while bringing in at least 25 new faces.

The ruling party on Wednesday released its second list of candidates. Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Anurag Singh Thakur, and three former chief ministers, including Haryana's Manohar Lal Khattar, figured in the list of 72 candidates. The BJP has dropped former Union ministers Sadananda Gowda and Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' from their seats.

Out of the 72 seats for which the party unveiled its candidates, Maharashtra and Karnataka each accounted for 20, while Gujarat had seven, Haryana and Telangana had six each, Madhya Pradesh had five, and Delhi, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh had two each. Additionally, there was one seat allocated for Tripura, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu respectively.

According to a report in NDTV, nearly 21 per cent of the sitting MPs have been dropped.

Major Reshuffle

In Delhi, the BJP has picked Harsh Malhotra for the East Delhi Lok Sabha seat, replacing its sitting MP Gautam Gambhir, the former cricketer. Yogendra Chandolia was chosen as the candidate for the North West Delhi constituency, reserved for the Scheduled Caste, replacing the incumbent Hans Raj Hans, a singer.

Gujarat

In Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP introduced new faces by replacing five sitting MPs.

The party nominated Bhikhaji Dudhaji Thakore for Sabarkantha, replacing the two-term MP Dipsinh Magansinh Rathod. Nimuben Bambhania was chosen for the Bhavnagar seat, replacing the two-term MP Bhartiben Dhirubhai Shiyal.

In Chhota Udaipur Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat, the BJP put forward Jashubhai Bhilubhai Rathwa instead of its sitting MP Gitaben Vajesingbhai Rathva. Mukeshbhai Chandrakant Dalal was named as the candidate for Surat, replacing the three-term MP and Union minister Darshana Vikram Jardosh.

Haryana

In Haryana, the BJP replaced its sitting MP Sunita Duggal with Ashok Tanwar for the Sirsa seat, reserved for the Scheduled Caste. Tanwar, a former Congress leader who recently joined the BJP after leaving the Aam Aadmi Party, was nominated. Former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar was fielded from the Karnal Lok Sabha seat, replacing sitting MP Sanjay Bhatia.

Karnataka

In its second list, the BJP introduced five new candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka. Basavaraj Kyavator was selected for Koppal, replacing the two-term MP Sanganna Amarappa Karadi. B Sriramulu was nominated for the reserved Scheduled Tribe seat of Bellary instead of the incumbent Y Devendrappa.

Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai was chosen for Haveri, replacing the three-term MP Shivkumar Chanabasappa Udasi. Capt Brijesh Chowta replaced Nalin Kumar Kateel for the Dakshina Kannada seat, and Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar was fielded instead of Pratap Simha for Mysore. S Balaraj was nominated for Chamarajanagar, replacing the six-term MP Srinivasa Prasad.

MP

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP nominated Savitri Thakur for Dhar instead of Chhatar Singh Darbar, and Bharti Pardhi for Balaghat instead of Dal Singh Bisen, both incumbents.

Maharashtra

In Maharashtra, the BJP replaced its sitting MPs in five Lok Sabha seats. Smita Wagh was chosen for Jalgaon, replacing Unmesh Bhaiyyasaheb Patil. Union minister Piyush Goyal replaced Gopal Chinayya Shetty for Mumbai North. Anup Dhorte replaced Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre for Akola. Mihir Kotecha was fielded instead of Manoj Kishorebhai Kotak for Mumbai North East, and Pankaja Munde replaced her sister Pritam Gopinath Rao Munde for Beed.

Telangana

In Telangana, the BJP nominated Godam Nagesh for Adilabad instead of the sitting MP Soyam Babu Rao. Anil Baluni was fielded for Garhwal, replacing Tirath Singh Rawat, and former Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat replaced Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank for Haridwar.

Maharani Kriti Singh Debbarma was nominated for Tripura East instead of incumbent Rebati Tripura.

In the BJP's first list released on March 2, at least 33 sitting MPs were replaced with new candidates for over 190 Lok Sabha seats.