Key take aways from the BJP’s first list of candidates for LS polls 2019

New Delhi, Mar 22: There are several take aways from the list of candidates announced by the BJP for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

BJP President Amit Shah will make his Lok Sabha debut this year after he repeated veteran L K Advani at the Gandhinagar Parliamentary constituency.

Here are the key take aways from the first list of candidates released by the BJP.

Shah's debut:
Amit Shah who was elected as a Rajya Sabha member in 2017 will fight the polls this year from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, a seat represented by L K Advani six times.

Shah who was earlier an MLA in the Gujarat legislative assembly between 1997 to 2017 has played a key role in shaping the BJP's mammoth victory in 2014. He is closely associated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has held key portfolios including home in the Gujarat government.

Veterans left out:
The party decided to leave out veterans such as Advani and B C Khanduri. On Thursday, senior leader Kalraj Mishra had said that he is opting out of the race this year. Veteran leader Bhagat Singh Koshyari too had made a similar announcement.

The party is yet to take a call on the fate of Murli Manohar Joshi, who had won from Kanpur in 2014.

Smriti vs Rahul:
This election would also witness a contest between union minister, Smriti Irani and Congress president, Rahul Gandhi at Amethi. Irani would be taking on Rahul for a second time. In the 2014 elections, she lost to Rahul Gandhi by a margin of over a lakh votes.

The contest promises to be an interesting one. Considered a Gandhi bastion, Rahul had won the 2009 polls by a margin of 3.70 lakh votes. However in 2014, the margin came down to 1.07 lakh.