NEW DELHI: The BJP has said it has fielded Lok Sabha candidates from diverse fields in line with “India’s diversity” and the party’s mantra of ‘social engineering’. A senior party leader said the party has tried to accommodate around 20 per cent candidates who come from diverse professional backgrounds out of the 411 candidates fielded so far.
Most party candidates are from various professional backgrounds such as doctors, technocrats, diplomats, IPS & IAS officers, singers, lawyers, ex-governors, actor and acclaimed social activists and academics.
Prominent actors among such candidates are Hema Malini from Mathura in UP and Kangana Ranaut from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. Similarly, Radikaa Sarathkumar, actor-turned-politician now, is in fray on a BJP ticket from Virudhunagar seat in Tamil Nadu. Similarly, former diplomat and India’s envoy to US Taranjit Singh Sandhu is the party candidate the Amritsar seat while technocrat-turned-politician Rabindra Narayan Behra (former director NIC) is contesting from Jaipur LS seat.
In Tamil Nadu, former IPS officer-turned-politician K. Annamalai has been fielded from Coimbatore while another former IPS officer, Debashish Dhar is contesting from Birbhum seat in West Bengal.
Former IAS officer of the 1984 batch, Varaprasad Rao Velagapalli has also been fielded by the the party from Tirupati seat again. He was made a nominee soon after he joined the BJP resigning from YSRCP. The party has fielded candidates from the medical background also and prominent among them is Pranat Tudu who is contesting from Jhargram seat in West Bengal.
The BJP has fielded not only three former CMs as its candidates in the Lok Sabha elections but also a former governor, Dr Tamilisai Soundarajana, from the South Chennai seat. She also comes from medical profession and had resigned a couple of days before being made the party nominee.
Bansuri Swaraj, a lawyer by profession, is one of those who have been fielded from legal background. Abhijit Gangopadhaya, former judge of the Calcutta High Court, has also been fielded from Tamluk seat in West Bengal.
Dr Maadhavi Latha, a Telugu film actor, is pitted against Asaduddin Owaisi from Hyderabad LS seat.
Actors in fray
Most party candidates are from various professional backgrounds such as doctors, diplomats, actors, and lawyers. Prominent actors among such candidates are Hema Malini from Mathura in UP and Kangana Ranaut from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. Radikaa Sarathkumar, actor-turned-politician now, is in fray on a BJP ticket from Virudhunagar seat.