The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released the first list of candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, today. Out of the 195 candidates announced today, 15 hail from Gujarat.
BJP leader Vinod Tawde addressed the media and said that the names of 195 candidates have been finalised.
The list includes 34 ministers, two former chief ministers, 28 women, 47 youth candidates, 18 Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates and 57 members from the OBC community. The candidates are spread across various states, with 51 from Uttar Pradesh, 20 from West Bengal, and five from Delhi.
The list of candidates from Gujarat, out of 26 Lok Sabha seats, is as follows:
- Kutch: Vinod Chavda (repeat on SC reserved seat)
- Banaskantha: Dr. Rekhaben Hiteshbhai Chaudhary
- Patan: Bharatsinh Dabhi (repeat)
- Gandhinagar: Amit Shah (repeat)
- Ahmedabad West (SC): Dinesh Makwana (a new face, former Deputy Mayor of city)
- Rajkot: Parshottam Rupala (Rajya Sabha MP, Union cabinet minister)
- Porbandar: Mansukh Mandaviya (Rajya Sabha MP, Union cabinet minister)
- Jamnagar: Poonamben Maadam (repeat)
- Anand: Mitesh Patel (repeat)
- Kheda: Devusinh Chauhan (repeat)
- Panchmahal: Rajpalsinh Mahendrasinh Jadav
- Dahod: Jashwantsinh Bhabhor (repeat)
- Bharuch: Mansukh Vasava (repeat)
- Bardoli: Prabhu Vasava (repeat)
- Navsari: CR Patil (repeat)
Among those repeated are Vinod Chavda on the Kutch seat, which is reserved for Schedule Caste candidates, Bharatsinh Dabhi on the Patan seat, Amit Shah on the Gandhinagar seat, Poonamben Madam on the Jamnagar seat, Mitesh Patel on the Anand seat, Devusinh Chauhan on the Kheda seat, Mansukh Vasava on the Bharuch seat, Prabhubhai Vasava on the Bardoli seat, and CR Patil on the Navsari seat.
Dinesh Makwana, a former Deputy Mayor of AMC and the Karnavati city unit BJP spokesperson is a new face for the Ahmedabad (West) seat, which is reserved for Schedule Caste candidates. The BJP has dropped incumbent MP Dr. Kirit Solanki. Rajpalsinh Mahendrasinh Jadav, a former District Panchayat president of Panchmahal, is also a new face. He will contest from the Panchmahal Lok Sabha seat. Dr. Rekhaben Hiteshbhai Chaudhary, granddaughter of Banas Dairy’s founder, Galbabhai Chaudhary, is another new face. She has been fielded from the Banaskantha seat.
Union cabinet ministers Parshottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya are fielded from the Rajkot and Porbandar Lok Sabha seats, respectively.
The seats for which candidates are yet to be announced are Sabarkantha, Mahesana, Ahmedabad East, Vadodara, Chhota Udepur, Surat, Valsad, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Junagadh, and Surendranagar.
In addition, the BJP has announced Lalubhai Patel as the candidate for the Dadra Nagar Haveli (UT) seat.
Meanwhile, the Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh, will contest from Lucknow. Smriti Irani, who had a shock victory against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in 2019, will be fighting from Amethi. For Delhi, the candidates include Praveen Khandelwal, Manoj Tiwari, and Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of the late Sushma Swaraj. Controversial figure Ramesh Bidhuri will not be repeated from the South Delhi seat, which will now be contested by Ramvir Singh Bidhuri.
Other Union ministers in the fray include Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia from Guna, Madhya Pradesh, Bhupender Yadav from Alwar, and Kiren Rijiju from Arunachal West. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who was not made the Madhya Pradesh chief minister despite the BJP’s victory last year, will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Vidisha. Controversial MP Pragya Singh Thakur will not be repeated from Bhopal; instead, Alok Sharma will contest the seat.
Other key candidates include Hema Malini from Mathura, a constituency she has represented since 2014, and former Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb from Tripura West.
The list reflects the party’s commitment to diversity and representation from all sections of society.
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