BJP strategises candidate selection for remaining LS seats in UP

For the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is meticulously crafting its candidate lineup for the state of Uttar Pradesh. After releasing the first list of candidates for 51 seats on March 2, the party held' a serious deliberation on Tuesday'for the remaining 24 seats in the state.

Uttar Pradesh has 80 seats. The BJP will contest 75 seats and the remaining will be contested by its allies.

The BJP, aspiring to secure victory in all 80 seats including its allies in UP, is leaving no stone unturned in scrutinising each potential candidate. Speculations abound that the party might opt to cancel the tickets of several incumbent MPs while also considering the possibility of some MPs contesting from different Lok Sabha constituencies.

The party is yet to unveil candidates for various phases of the elections across UP. Three candidates are yet to be declared for the first, second, fifth, and seventh phases, five for the third and fifth phases, and two for the fourth phase.

In the initial candidate announcement, the BJP allocated five seats to its allies, including Bijnor and Baghpat to RLD, Mirzapur and Robertsganj to Apna Dal (S), and the Ghosi seat to Suheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) of Om Prakash Rajbhar. Currently, the BJP needs to finalize candidates for the remaining 24 seats. Among these, 19 are currently held by the BJP, while the party suffered defeat on five seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, including Rae Bareli, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Mainpuri, and Ghazipur.

Several of the seats the BJP presently holds are represented by heavyweight MPs such as Brajbhushan Sharan Singh's Kaiserganj, Maneka Gandhi's Sultanpur, Union Minister of State General VK Singh's Ghaziabad, Varun

Gandhi's Pilibhit, Dr. Rita Bahuguna Joshi's Prayagraj, Satyadev Pachauri's Kanpur, and former state president Ramapati Ram Tripathi's Deoria seat.

However, the party is yet to make decisions on significant constituencies like Badaun, where Sanghamitra Maurya, daughter of Swami Prasad Maurya, is the sitting MP.

Swamy Prasad Maurya has formed Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party, after his departure from SP.

Moreover, controversies have emerged, as seen in Barabanki, where an objectionable video involving Upendra Rawat, the incumbent MP, went viral following the party's decision to renominate him. Rawat, responding to the video, declared not to contest until proven innocent.