The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unveiled its 10th list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, announcing nine nominees, including Rajya Sabha MP Neeraj Shekhar, who will contest from Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia constituency.
Neeraj Shekhar, son of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, previously served as a Lok Sabha MP from 2007 to 2014, representing the Ballia constituency under the Samajwadi Party (SP), following in his father’s footsteps. However, in 2014, Shekhar faced defeat at the hands of his BJP rival and subsequently transitioned to the Rajya Sabha. After not being nominated by the SP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he switched allegiance to the BJP, which facilitated his entry into the Upper House of Parliament.
In addition to Shekhar, the BJP has named Paras Nath Rai as its candidate for the Ghazipur constituency, where he will challenge Afzal Ansari, the candidate of the Samajwadi Party and Congress alliance.
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The latest list comprises eight new candidates, with the BJP replacing its candidate for the Asansol constituency in West Bengal. Pawan Singh, the Bhojpuri star previously chosen for Asansol, has been substituted with current BJP MP SS Ahluwalia.
Furthermore, Sanjay Tandon has been nominated to contest from Chandigarh, while B.P. Saroj has secured a ticket for the Machhlishahr constituency. Jaiveer Singh Thakur will be contesting from Mainpuri, a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party, where the incumbent Dimple Yadav has been re-nominated.
Other candidates announced include Vinod Sonkar for the Kaushambi constituency, Praveen Patel for Phulpur, and Neeraj Tripathi for Prayagraj.
The Lok Sabha elections, scheduled to be held in seven phases starting from April 19, will see approximately 97 crore eligible voters exercising their franchise. Vote counting is slated for June 4.
In the 2019 elections, the BJP secured 303 seats, while the Indian National Congress (INC) managed to secure only 52 seats. Similarly, in the 2014 elections, the BJP won 282 seats, with the INC securing just 44 seats.
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