BJP Eyes Brij Bhushan, Apna Dal (S) for UP Lok Sabha Seats; Candidate Discussions Underway

The Bharatiya Janata Party convened a meeting of its Uttar Pradesh core committee on Monday night to discuss candidates for the remaining 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The constituencies under discussion included Barabanki, Mirzapur, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Prayagraj, Ghazipur, Kanpur, Ballia, Deoria, Raebareli, Mainpuri, Saharanpur, and Robertsganj.

According to sources cited by ABP News, NDA ally and Anupriya Patel's Apna Dal (Sonelal) may be given their former Mirzapur and Robertsganj Lok Sabha seats for the upcoming polls. There is speculation that Upendra Rawat, the BJP MP from Barabanki, might be replaced with a new candidate.

Amidst the wrestlers' protest controversy, it is unlikely that former Wrestling Federation of India chief and MP from Kaiserganj, Brij Bhushan Sharan, will receive a ticket this time. Instead, his wife Ketaki Devi Singh or Karan Bhuhan Singh could be nominated from the Kaiserganj seat.

In the race for the ticket from the Meerut seat, actor Arun Govil, poet Kumar Vishwas, and Meerut Cantonment MLA Amit Agarwal are contenders.

For the Prayagraj seat, the BJP is considering former bureaucrat Sanjay Mishra or former city Mayor Abhilasha Gupta, who is the wife of UP minister Nand Gopal Nandi.

Discussions also revolved around the Ghaziabad seat, with names such as incumbent MP VK Singh, Anil Agarwal, or Anil Jain being considered.

For the Ghazipur seat, Manoj Sinha's son Anibhav Sinha is being considered, while the party is contemplating the candidature of Manoj Pandey from Raebareli.

Ramapati Ram Tripathi may be given another chance from Deoria, and either Neeraj Shekhar or Anand Swaroop Shukla is expected to be fielded by the BJP from Ballia.

MP Satyadev Pachauri's daughter Neetu Singh, along with Satish Mahana, is being considered for the Kanpur seat.

UP tourism minister Jaiveer Singh could receive the party ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Mainpuri. In Saharanpur, deliberations are ongoing between former minister Suresh Rana and Raghav Lakhanpal.