BJP names 85 UP candidates; Aditi Singh from Rae Bareli, Arun from Kannauj

The BJP on Friday fielded Aditi Singh, who left the Congress to join it, and Asim Arun, who recently quit the IPS, in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls as it released a list of 85 more candidates.

The list also includes incumbent MLA Hariom Yadav, a distant relative of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Hariom Yadav quit the opposition party recently.

The BJP has named both Singh and Yadav from their current seats of Rae Bareli and Sirsaganj respectively, while Arun, a Dalit, will contest from Kannauj, a reserved seat.

The Rae Bareli assembly seat is part of the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency which is represented by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Uttar Pradesh Assembly Deputy Speaker Nitin Aggarwal, who had also left the SP to join the BJP, will fight from Hardoi.

With the fresh list of candidates, which include 15 women, the total number of names announced by the party for the seven-phase election to the 403-member assembly has reached 195.