BJP Announces Two More Candidates In Seventh Lok Sabha Elections List

The BJP on Wednesday announced its seventh list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, naming Navneet Rana for Maharashtra's Amravati constituency and Govind Kajrol for Karnataka's Chitradurga.

Rana, currently an independent MP and the incumbent legislator of the Amravati Lok Sabha seat, has been a supporter of the BJP along with her husband Ravi Rana, the current MLA from Badnera (in Amravati).

This announcement sets the stage for Rana to formally join the BJP and contest on the Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved seat.

However, Rana's candidacy for the Amravati seat has stirred controversy within the ruling Mahayuti alliance. Local BJP leaders, especially the party's ex-Amravati MP and stalwart leader Anandrao Adsul, have vehemently opposed Rana's candidacy, citing her victory over Adsul in the 2019 General Election.

Adding to the internal strife is the opposition from Bacchu Kadu, chief of the Prahar Janshakti Party, an ally of the ruling Mahayuti and National Democratic Alliance (NDA), towards the Rana husband-wife duo.

Further complicating matters is the controversy surrounding Rana's caste certificate. The Bombay High Court, in June 2021, had stated that Rana had obtained her caste certificate fraudulently using fabricated documents. The Supreme Court, after completing the hearing on the petition against Ms. Rana's caste validity in February, is expected to announce its verdict soon.

Rana, a political newcomer, had emerged victorious in the 2019 Lok Sabha contest in Amravati with the support of the then undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar. She had claimed to be a member of the Mochi caste at the time.

However, the Bombay High Court, responding to a petition challenging Rana's claim of belonging to the Mochi caste, had found that she had obtained her Scheduled Caste certificate fraudulently for the purpose of gaining benefits available to candidates from such a category.

In its ruling, a Division Bench of the High Court had directed Rana to surrender her caste certificate within six weeks and pay a penalty of Rs 2 lakh to the Maharashtra Legal Services Authority. Following Rana's challenge to the HC's decision, the case is currently pending in the Supreme Court.