In Uttar Pradesh, BJP Does Not Tinker Much With Recipe That Delivered 2014 on a Plate

Lucknow: Amid speculation that the BJP would deny tickets to many sitting MPs in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has dropped only six in its first list of 28 candidates from Uttar Pradesh.

The party has once again fielded Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi constituency, home minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow and union minister Smriti Irani from Amethi – for a rematch with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

There was the expectation that the party would make major changes in the ticket distribution in Uttar Pradesh to buck the anti-incumbency trend, but has stuck with the tried and tested formula.

Uttar Pradesh is one of the most electorally crucial states of the Hindi heartland and sends 80 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha. The saffron party had won 73 seats together with its allies in the state.

But with the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party alliance in the state and the Congress fielding their trump card Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as a general secretary, the state's elections will be one to watch out for.

Despite political observers saying the SP-BSP combine could hurt the BJP due to its arithmetic, the BJP has shown confidence in the sitting MPs. And so, it has once again fielded former General VK Singh from Ghaziabad and union minister Mahesh Sharma from Gautam Buddh Nagar.

Also re-nominated are actor-turned politician Hema Malini from Mathura, riot-tainted Sanjeev Kumar Balyan from Muzaffarnagar and Kunwar Bharatendra Singh from Bijnor.

The party has also retained motormouth Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj, who had claimed recently that there would be no more elections after the BJP wins the one that starts next month.

“The Modi tsunami has awakened the country. I feel there will be no election in 2024... This is the only election and we are fighting it in the name of the country with full honesty,” he had said.

The six MPs who have been dropped include Satyapal Saini, who has been replaced by Parmeshwar Lal Saini in Sambhal; Krishna Raj, who has been dropped in favour of Arun Sagar in Shajahanpur (reserved) and Ram Shankar Katheria, who has been set aside for SP Singh Baghel for the Agra seat.

In Hardoi (reserved), Anshul Verma has been dropped in favour of Jai Prakash Rawat, Ashok Rawat will replace Anju Bala in Misirikh (reserved), and in Fatehpur Sikri, Chaudhary Babulal has made way for Rajkumar Singh.