Gadkari, Thakur in BJP second list
Party releases second list of 72 candidates for the Lok Sabha election, covering 10 States and one Union Territory; Mysuru’s erstwhile royal replaces MP Pratap Simha; Union Minister Piyush Goyal to contest from Mumbai North; party drops 29 MPs
The BJP on Wednesday released its second list of candidates for the Lok Sabha election, fielding Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari from Nagpur, Anurag Thakur from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, Pralhad Joshi from Dharwad, and Piyush Goyal from Mumbai North.
The list of 72 candidates covers 10 States and one Union Territory. With this, the party has declared candidates for all seats in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Tripura, and Uttarakhand. Around 29 MPs have been replaced.
In Karnataka, the BJP declared candidates for 20 out of 28 seats. It has replaced nine MPs. Mysuru MP Pratap Simha has been replaced by the scion of the Mysuru royal family, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar. The party has also replaced former Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, with his Bangalore North seat going to Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje, who has shifted from UdupiChikmagalur. Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president Tejaswi Surya has been repeated from Bangalore South.
An interesting contest is brewing in Bangalore Rural with renowned cardiologist C.N. Manjunath — the soninlaw of JD(S) veteran and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda — getting BJP ticket to contest against sitting MP D.K. Suresh, brother of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar.
In Maharashtra, the BJP’s list of 20 candidates saw at least two notable changes: former Minister
Pankaja Munde, whose relations with the BJP top brass have been frigid for a while, was announced as the candidate from Beed in lieu of her sister, sitting MP Pritam Munde, while Union Minister Goyal was fielded from Mumbai North, in place of Gopal Shetty.
Delhi nominees
Replacing the sitting MPs in the East and NorthWest Delhi, Gautam Gambhir and Hans Raj Hans respectively, the BJP in its second candidate list has announced Delhi BJP general secretary and former East MCD Mayor Harsh Malhotra from East Delhi, and BJP general secretary and former North MCD Mayor Yogendra Chandolia from North West.
In Gujarat, the party has dropped sitting MPs from Surat, Valsad, Sabarkantha, Bhavnagar and Chhota Udepur.
In Uttarakhand, the BJP fielded two new candidates — former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat replaced another former Chief Minister and exUnion Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in Haridwar, while in Garhwal, BJP’s media cell chief Anil Baluni replaced a former Chief Minister, Tirath Singh Rawat.
In Haryana, the party dropped two MPs. Former Chief Minister Manohar Lal has been declared the candidate from Karnal in place of Sanjay Bhatia.
In Telangana, the BJP continues to hedge its bets on newcomers, with turncoats, mostly those from the BRS, getting ticket in the second list. Former BRS MPs A. Seetaram Naik and G. Nagesh got the party nod for the seats of Mahabubabad and Adilabad respectively. Former BRS MLA S. Saidi Reddy will contest from Nalgonda.