BJP Declares 402 Candidates for Lok Sabha Polls, drops 100 sitting MPs
Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has unveiled 402 candidates for various constituencies, initiating a notable overhaul by dropping around 100 sitting Members of Parliament (MPs).
Hyderabad: Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has unveiled 402 candidates for various constituencies, initiating a notable overhaul by dropping around 100 sitting Members of Parliament (MPs).
Since the release of its initial list of 195 contenders on March 2, the BJP has been steadily unveiling its candidates, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to contest for the third time from his parliamentary seat in Varanasi. Notable figures in the first list included Union Ministers Amit Shah, Mansukh Mandaviya, and Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Subsequent lists featured prominent names like former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Bollywood actor from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi seat.
The party’s decision to drop around 100 sitting MPs signifies a significant shift, as it aims to address concerns related to anti-incumbency and rejuvenate its electoral prospects. Notable omissions from the list include Varun Gandhi, Pragya Thakur, and Gautam Gambhir, among others.
This move echoes the BJP’s strategy in 2019, where it revoked the tickets of 119 out of its 282 MPs, amounting to about 42 percent of sitting MPs, in a bid to counter anti-incumbency sentiments.
With 30-40 additional candidates yet to be announced, the BJP’s selection process remains ongoing, with the possibility of further changes in candidate line-ups as the party strategizes its approach for the forthcoming elections.
