Lok Sabha elections: BJP releases list of 39 candidates; drops Joshi, swaps seats of Maneka, Varun Gandhi

The BJP has released names of 39 more Lok Sabha election candidates for Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) with BJP President mit Shah at the party's central election committee (CEC) meet. Photo: Twitter

LUCKNOW: The BJP on Tuesday released a list of 39 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, dropping its former president Murli Manohar Joshi and swapping seats of Union Minister Maneka Gandhi and her son varun Gandhi. The party fielded Uttar Pradesh minister Satyadev Pachauri from Kanpur in place of Joshi. Joshi, 85, had won from Kanpur in 2014 but was told by the party leadership that he would not be fielded in the coming elections. The party has not given the ticket to veterans like L K Advani, BC Khanduri and Kalraj Mishra among others. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi will now contest from the Sultanpur seat, from where his son Varun Gandhi is the sitting MP. Varun will move to his mother's constituency Pilibhit. BJP general secretary Arun Singh announced that Union minister Manoj Sinha has been fielded from Ghazipur, a seat he had won in 2014, and UP government minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi from prestigious Allahabad seat. Shyama Charan Gupta, the outgoing BJP MP from Allahabad, recently joined the Samajwadi Party. Actor-politician Jaya Prada was fielded from Rampur hours after she joined the party Tuesday. In Uttar Pradesh, the saffron party fielded its state unit chief Mahendra Nath Pandey from Chandoli, Ram Shankar Katheria from Etawah, and Jagdambika Pal from Domariaganj.

#BJP releases list of 29 candidates for Uttar Pradesh and 10 for West Bengal. pic.twitter.com/MOVb0YZOHd

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) March 26, 2019

In West Bengal, Humayun Kabir will contest from Murshidabad, actor Joy Banerjee from Ulberia and Rantidev Sen Gupta from Howrah. Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats, and West Bengal, which elects 42 members to the Lower House, will see staggered general elections spread over all seven phases starting from April 11 to May 19.