BJP’s big guns in 2nd list of 72 candidates

A week after releasing its initial candidate list comprising 195 contenders for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has bolstered its lineup by revealing an additional roster of 72 candidates.

This move further cements the party’s preparations for the crucial polls scheduled to take place in April-May.

Prominent figures featured in this announcement include Union ministers Nitin Gadkari (Nagpur), Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North), and Anurag Singh Thakur (Hamirpur), alongside Union minister Pralhad Joshi, who has been slated as the candidate for Dharwad.

The list also features former chief ministers Manohar Lal Khattar, Trivendra Singh Rawat, and Basavaraj Bommai.

Significantly, this new list underscores the BJP’s commitment to inclusivity, with 12 women candidates, 10 Scheduled Caste nominees, and 8 Scheduled Tribe contenders being nominated.

Former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar will contest from the Karnal Lok Sabha constituency, while former Karnataka CM Basavraj Bommai and former Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat will vie for the Haveri and Hardwar Lok Sabha seats, respectively.

BJP chief spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni has strategically been nominated to contest from the Garhwal constituency in Uttarakhand.

The BJP has also introduced fresh faces for the Delhi region, with Harsh Malhotra set to represent East Delhi and Yogendra Chandolia vying for North West Delhi. In Karnataka, B Y Raghavendra, son of former chief minister B S Yediyurappa, is slated to contest from Shimoga.

Additionally, Tejasvi Surya, the incumbent BJP youth wing chief, will seek re-election from Bengaluru South.

In Maharashtra’s Beed constituency, Pankaja Munde has replaced her sister and incumbent MP Pritam Munde. Tejasvi Surya, BJP’s youth wing president, will contest again from Bangalore South, while Union minister Shobha Karandlaje has been shifted from Udupi Chikmagalur to Bangalore North.

In a strategic move, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Wadiyar of the erstwhile Mysore royal family replaced Pratap Simha as the BJP candidate in the Mysore seat. Former Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel has been replaced by Brijesh Chowta in Dakshina Kannada.

In the second candidate list BJP has announced candidates across 11 states and UTs including, Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (1), Delhi (2), Gujarat (7), Himachal Pradesh (2), Haryana (6), Karnataka(20), Madhya Pradesh (5), Maharashtra (20), Telangana(6), Tripura(1) and Uttarakhand (2).