The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday announced the candidacy of three more people for the Lok Sabha elections, notably replacing all incumbent MPs, including Union Minister Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, in constituencies the party previously held since 2019.
Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh, an incumbent minister in the Manipur government, will now contest from the Inner Manipur constituency, replacing the Union Minister. In Rajasthan, Indu Devi Jatav and Kanhaiya Lal Meena have been nominated for the Karauli-Dholpur and Dausa constituencies, respectively, ousting sitting MPs Manoj Rajoria and Jaskaur Meena.
On Sunday, the BJP released a list of 111 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, which dropped Union Ministers Ashwini Kumar Choubey and VK Singh, as well as MP Varun Gandhi.
Notably, actors Kangana Ranaut and Arun Govil have been nominated as candidates. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will contest from Sambalpur, while party spokesperson Sambit Patra will vie for re-election from Puri.
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Maneka Gandhi will contest from Sultanpur, with Jitin Prasada replacing Varun Gandhi in Pilibhit. Sita Soren is the nominee for Dumka (Jharkhand), while former Calcutta High Court Judge Abhijeet Gangopadhyay is also among the nominees.
Actor Arun Govil, renowned for portraying Lord Ram in the TV series ‘Ramayan’, will contest from the Meerut Lok Sabha seat on the BJP ticket. Similarly, actor Kangana Ranaut has been fielded from the Mandi seat in Himachal Pradesh.
The Lok Sabha elections, spanning 543 seats, will occur in seven phases from April 19 to June 1, with vote counting scheduled for June 4.