 "BJP's candidates' list 2024: Check who makes the cut, who misses out")
Lok Sabha elections: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leaving no stone unturned in a bid to ensure it wins the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with a thumping majority of at least 370 seats by itself and another 30 seats with the help of its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners.
So far, the saffron party has announced 402 candidates in five different lists, featuring some of the surprise names. The lists include prominent actors and royals as well as new faces, including Kangana Ranaut, Arun Govil. Notably, some of these names have come at the cost of senior leaders and sitting MPs, conveying the BJP's bold message that no one is above the party.
A look at BJP's surprise picks for Lok Sabha polls 2024:
1) Bansuri Swaraj: In its first list, the party named as many as 195 candidates, including big guns Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his colleagues and Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah among others. The list also featured lawyer and the daughter of former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, Bansuri, who is set to make her poll debut this election. Bansuri Swaraj will contest the Lok Sabha polls from the New Delhi constituency. Notably, the party re-nominated 108 of 151 sitting MPs in the first list.
2) Saket Mishra: The list of BJP's poll debutants also includes Saket Mishra, a sitting MLC and the son of Nripendra Mishra, who serves as the chairman of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Construction Committee. Nripendra Mishra has also served as the former principal secretary to PM Modi. Mishra will contest the polls from Shrawasti.
3) Kangana Ranaut: It was being speculated for a long time that Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut might contest the Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket. The speculations have ended as Ranaut indeed got a ticket from Himachal's Mandi constituency. The seat was represented by the royal Congress leader Pratibha Singh, who won the bye-elections to the constituency in 2021. The bye-polls followed after the demise of BJP MP Ram Swaroop Sharma in 2021, who died in a suspected case of suicide.
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4) Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar: The BJP has named Mysore royal family member, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, as its poll candidate for Karnataka's Mysore. Notably, Wadiyar is replacing two-term sitting MP Pratap Simha, who faced the Opposition's heat after it was revealed that the December 2023 Parliament intruders had their entry passes signed by him.
5) Dr C N Manjunath: Manjunath is yet another fresh pick by the BJP for the upcoming polls. The noted cardiac and son-in-law of former PM H D Deve Gowda will contest the polls from Bangalore Rural constituency and will attempt to oust the sitting Congress MP DK Suresh.
6) Varun Gandhi (dropped): The Pilibhit MP has been dropped by the BJP and replaced by UP Minister Jitin Prasad for the upcoming election. The pick is a genuine surprise since Varun and his mother Menaka Gandhi have represented the seat for two decades. It is being said that Varun was dropped due to his frequent anti-government remarks.
7) Arun Govil: Arun Govil, who played the role of Ram in popular TV serial 'Ramayan', has been fielded by the BJP from UP's Meerut, the actor's hometown. Govil will replace the sitting MP Rajendra Agarwal.
8) Gen V K Singh (retd) (dropped): Union Minister Gen V K Singh (retd) has been dropped by the BJP from his Ghaziabad seat to be replaced by MLA Atul Garg.
9) Darshana Jardosh (dropped): Jardosh is yet another Modi minister who has been denied a ticket in the upcoming polls. Jardosh's Surat constituency in Gujarat has been given to Mukeshbhai Chandrakant Dalal.
10) Kriti Singh Debbarma: Kriti Debbarma is another royalist who will contest the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket. She will contest the polls from Tripura East. Debbarma is the sister of royal scion-turned-politician and Tipra founder Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma.
11) Abhijit Gangopadhyay: Noted Trinamool Congress critic and former Calcutta High Court judge, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, has secured a BJP ticket from Tamluk seat days after joining the party. Gangopadhyay joined the saffron party on March 7, two days after resigning as the HC judge. He is known for ordering an investigation into an alleged West Bengal teacher recruitment scam in May 2022.
12) Kamaljeet Sehrawat: Another debutant on BJP's list, Sehrawat is a former South Delhi mayor, who will contest the polls from the West Delhi constituency. She replaced two-time MP Parvesh Verma, who is the son of former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma.
13) Pallavi Dempo: Debutant Dempo is also making headlines as she has become the first woman to be a BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Goa. The executive director of Dempo Industries, 49-year-old Pallavi will fight the polls from south Goa. Congress MP Francisco Sardinha currently represents the seat.
14) Rekha Patra: The BJP has fielded Sandeshkhali violence survivor Rekha Patra from West Bengal's Basirhat constituency. Patra rose to the spotlight after her protests against the sexual assault cases against the Sandeshkhali women by three expelled TMC leaders, including prime accused Shahjahan Sheikh.
15) K Surendran: Seasoned BJP candidate K Surendran has been trusted by the party to contest the polls from Kerala's Wayanad constituency to take on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Surendran serves as the state BJP chief since 2020 and is known for leading the party's agitations against the entry of young women into Sabarimala years ago.
16) Anantkumar Hegde (dropped): Six-time Karnataka MP, Hegde, has been dropped by the BJP, days after his remarks on "amending" the Constitution triggered a huge political row.
17) Notably, the party also axed the poll passes for its other controversial MPs, including Jayant Sinha, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, and Ramesh Bidhuri, among others. Bidhuri was in the limelight for his communal remarks in Parliament in September last year.
28) Sita Soren: Sita Soren, the sister-law of jailed former Jharkhand Hemant Soren, has been given a ticket by the BJP from Dumka's seat. She quit the family's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party a few days ago.
BJP's new faces also include names such as Dr Rajesh Mishra (Sidhi in MP) and Ashish Dubey (Jabalpur), physiotherapist Hemang Joshi (Vadodara in Gujarat), former Congress stalwart and industrialist Naveen Jindal (Kurukshetra in Haryana) among others.