New Delhi: The BJP Wednesday fielded Neeraj Shekhar, the son of former prime minister Chandrashekhar, from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh as the party released its 10th list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
Shekhar has been fielded in place of four-term MP Virendra Singh.
The party has named SS Ahluwalia as its candidate from the Asansol seat in West Bengal. Ahluwalia is the incumbent MP from the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency in the state.
The BJP, in its 10th list, announced candidates for nine Lok Sabha constituencies — seven in Uttar Pradesh, one in West Bengal and Chandigarh’s lone seat.
According to the list, the BJP has fielded Paras Nath Rai from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh against the Samajwadi Party’s Afzal Ansari, the brother of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who recently passed away.
In the 2019 elections, Ansari contested from Ghazipur on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket and defeated the BJP’s Manoj Sinha. Sinha is currently the Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
The BJP has also named Sanjay Tandon as its candidate from Chandigarh, dropping sitting MP Kirron Kher. It has fielded Niraj Tripathi from Allahabad in place of incumbent MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
Jaiveer Singh Thakur has been fielded from Mainpuri to take on the Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav, who is seeking another term in the Lok Sabha.
The BJP has named Praveen Patel from the Phulpur seat in Uttar Pradesh, replacing sitting MP Keshari Devi Patel.
BJP MPs Vinod Sonkar and BP Saroj will contest from Kaushambi and Machhlishahr in Uttar Pradesh, respectively.
PTI
