NEW DELHI : The BJP replaced as many as 33 sitting MPs with new faces as it released its first list with names of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
In the list, the BJP announced its candidates for 11 Lok Sabha seats in Assam. Of them, six candidates are sitting MPs while the other five are new faces.
The party has fielded Parimal Suklabaidhya from Silchar Lok Sabha constituency, won by Rajdeep Roy in the 2019 general elections.
From the Autonomous District (ST) seat, currently held by BBJP MP Horen Singh Bey, party nominee Amar Singh Tisso will contest.
Bijuli Kalita Medhi will contest from Gauhati Lok Sabha seat which is held by Queen Oja.
Ranjit Dutta will contest from Tezpur Lok Sabh seat which was won by Pallab Lochan Das in 2019.
The BJP has named Union Minister Sarbanand Sonowal as its candidate from Dibrugarh constituency, dropping sitting MP Rameswar Teli.
In the list of the BJP candidates for 11 seats in Chhattisgarh, four faces are new.
From Janjgir Champa (SC) constituency, party nominee Kamlesh Jangde will contest the election, instead of sitting MP Guharam Ajgalley.
From Raipur, senior BJP leader Brijmohan Agrawal will enter the fray, not Sunil Kumar Soni who won the seat in 2019.
From the state's Mahasamund seat, BJP nominee Roop Kumari Choudhary will contest the Lok Sabha poll, instead of sitting MP Chunni Lal Sahu.
Sitting MP Mohan Mandavi was replaced by BJP nominee Bhojraj Nag on Kanker (ST) seat.
The BJP named its candidates for 15 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, dropping five sitting MPs.
From Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat, party nominee Rekhaben Hiteshbhai Choudhary will contest, instead of sitting MP Prabhatbhai Savabhai Patel.
On Ahmedabad West (SC) seat, Dineshbhai Kidarbhai Makwana replaced three-term MP Kirit Solanki.
For Rajkot Lok Sabha seat, the BJP named Union minister Parshottam Rupala as its candidate, dropping sitting MP Mohanbhai Kalyanji Kundariya.
The party named Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya for the Porbandar seat, currently held by party MP Rameshbhai Lavjibhai Dhaduk.
From Panchmahal seat in Gujarat, BJP nominee Rajpalsinh Mahendrasinh Jadhav will join the fray, instead of sitting MP Ratansinh Magansinh Rathod.
In Jharkhand, BJP fielded Manish Jaiswal from Hazaribagh seat, which is currently held by Jayant Sinha, son of former Union minister Yashwant Sinha.
On Lohardaga (ST) seat, three-time MP Sudarshan Bhagat was replaced by Samir Oraon.
In its list of candidates for Madhya Pradesh, the BJP replaced seven sitting MPs with new faces.
The party named Bharat Singh Kushwaha for the Gwalior Lok Sabha seat, instead of its sitting MP Vivek Narayan Shejwalker.
It dropped sitting MP from Guna, Krishnapal Singh Yadav, to field Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia from the seat.
BJP nominee Lata Wankhede will join the fray from Sagar Lok Sabha seat, which is currently held by Rajbahadur Singh.
Virendra Khatik will contest from Tikamgarh (SC) seat.
The BJP has dropped Vidisha MP Ramakant Bhargava to name former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as its candidate from the seat.
Alok Sharma will be its candidate from the Bhopal seat, currently held by Sadhvi Pragya Singh.
From Ratlam (ST) seat, currently held by BJP MP Guman Singh Damor, party nominee Anita Nagar Singh chauhan will contest.
The BJP announced its candidates for 15 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan, replacing five sitting MPs with new faces who will contest from Churu, Bharatpur, Jalore, Udaipur, and Banswara contingency.
The party named former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb as its candidate from Tripura West seat, which is currently held by party MP Pratima Bhoumik.
The BJP also dropped its Alipurduar MP John Barla in West Bengal to field Manoj Tigga from the constituency, reserved for Scheduled Tribe.
In Delhi
Apparent disconnect with constituents and strong anti-incumbency sentiments emerging in surveys carried out by the party have reportedly worked against four sitting BJP MPs in Delhi. The names of Ramesh Bidhuri (South Delhi), Meenakshi Lekhi (New Delhi), Parvesh Sahib Singh (West Delhi) and Dr Harsh Vardhan (Chandni Chowk) were missing from the first list of 195 candidates for the Lok Sabha election released on Saturday.
Party insiders said RSS, too, was unhappy with a couple of MPs, flagging its concerns over their functioning. A senior Delhi BJP leader said not just the Sangh, a section of state leaders and workers too were upset.
“The decision to deny the ticket has not come as a complete surprise. Resentment against them was noticeable,” said a former party officer-bearer.
Delhi has seven Lok Sabha seats. Only Bhojpuri actor-turned-politician Manoj Tiwari is retained from Northeast Delhi in the first list.
BJP functionaries in Delhi said the age factor also played a role in the case of Harsh Vardhan, adding that Covid mismanagement during the second wave might be another reason.
Leader of opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri has been fielded in place of Ramesh and former South Delhi mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat has replaced Parvesh. Party leaders said besides negative feedback from the party cadre, hate comments might have cost them their ticket.
Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of late Sushma Swaraj, will contest from New Delhi, which is represented by Meenakshi Lekhi.
(With inputs from PTI)
