March 1, 2024 : In a recent meeting of the Central Election Committee, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finalized the names of its candidates for 56 Lok Sabha seats. The release of the first list is imminent, along with the disclosure of the constituencies from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will contest the elections.
Strategic Seat Allocation
According to sources, BJP will leave 6 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh for its allies – Apna Dal, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), and NISHAD Party. Among these, 2 seats are for Apna Dal, 2 for SBSP, and 1 each for NISHAD Party and Apna Dal (Sonelal). Following this strategy, BJP has finalized the names of its candidates for 56 seats.
Potential Contestants
Prime Minister Modi is likely to contest from Varanasi once again, while Home Minister Amit Shah may contest from Gandhi Nagar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow. It’s also rumored that former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was offered a seat from Bhopal, but he expressed his intention to contest from his hometown Vidisha. Additionally, Ravi Raina, the president of BJP in Jammu and Kashmir, could contest from Rajouri-Anantnag constituency.
Other Probable Candidates
According to sources, former Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani, might contest the Lok Sabha elections. Sarbananda Sonowal could contest from Dibrugarh, Jyotiraditya Scindia from Guna-Shivpuri, and Subrat Pathak from Kannauj. Moreover, Murli Dharan from Tiruvananthapuram Rural, Sukant Majumdar from Balurghat, Ravikishan from Gorakhpur, and Manasukh Mandaviya from Bhavnagar are also potential contestants.
In addition, Harish Dwivedi from Basti, Pralhad Joshi from Hubli-Dharwad, Shobha Karandlaje from Karnataka, Poonam Madam from Jamnagar, Fagan Singh Kulaste from Mandla, and many others might contest in the upcoming elections.
Possible Contests
There’s speculation about Pawan Singh, the Bhojpuri star, contesting against Shatrughan Sinha from Asansol. Furthermore, there are talks about Ravinderjeet from Gurugram, Sunita Duggal from Sirsa, Kamlesh Paswan from Bansi, SPS Baghel from Agra, and Manoj Tiwari from North-East Delhi contesting in the Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP is gearing up for a crucial electoral battle in 2024, with strategic candidate selections across various constituencies. As the election season approaches, all eyes are on these potential candidates and the constituencies they will represent.
