The BJP announced the names of 111 additional candidates for the Lok Sabha polls on Sunday including high-profile figures like Kangana Ranaut, Arun Govil and Naveen Jindal. Former Calcutta Judge Abhijit Gangopadhya has also been fielded from Tamluk in West Bengal.
Meanwhile the saffron party dropped Union ministers Ashwini Kumar Choubey and V K Singh, and MP Varun Gandhi.
Kangana Ranaut, a BJP supporter, will contest from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.
While veteran actor Arun Govil, known for his portrayal of Lord Ram in the TV serial "Ramayan", was chosen over seasoned parliamentarian Rajendra Agrawal in Meerut.
Sita Soren, the sister-in-law of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, will contest from Dumka after leaving the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
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Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who briefly joined the Congress before returning to the BJP, will contest from Belgaum.
The party also named 19 more candidates from West Bengal, including former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay from Tamluk, and shifted Dilip Ghosh, the MP from Medinipur, to Bardhaman–Durgapur, dropping the incumbent S S Ahluwalia.
Three leaders who joined the BJP on Sunday were included in the list -- Naveen Jindal from Kurukshetra, Haryana government minister Ranjit Chautala from Hisar (both in Haryana), and Varaprasad Rao from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.
Kerala BJP president K Surendra will contest from Wayanad, the same seat where incumbent MP and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is standing again.
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Rekha Patra, reportedly one of the Sadeshkhali victims, will contest from West Bengal's Basirhat constituency in an effort to challenge the state's ruling Trinamool Congress.
The BJP named candidates for all 17 seats it is contesting in Bihar, re-nominating Union minister Giriraj Singh from Begusarai and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib.
The party fielded Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur, while Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada has replaced Varun Gandhi in Pilibhit. Sita Soren will fight from Dumka (Jharkhand).
The party has dropped ex-Union minister Anant Kumar Hegde from Uttara Kannada constituency who has been known for his controversial remarks.
Actor Arun Govil, who played Ram in popular TV serial Ramayan, has been fielded by the BJP from the Meerut Lok Sabha seat.
Union ministers R K Singh and Nityanand Rai were also fielded from their current seats, with the party naming 13 more candidates in Uttar Pradesh.
Varun Gandhi was denied the ticket from Pilibhit, replaced by Jitin Prasada, while Atul Garg will replace two-term MP V K Singh in Ghaziabad. Singh had earlier announced his decision not to contest in a post on X.
Andhra Pradesh BJP president D Purandeswari will contest from Rajahmundry, and former chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy from Rajampet, as the party announced its candidates for all six Lok Sabha seats in the state in alliance with the TDP and the Jana Sena.
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BJP vice president Baijayant Panda will contest from Kendrapara, a constituency he represented in Lok Sabha as a BJD member twice.
The party named seven candidates from Rajasthan, four each from Haryana, Karnataka, and Kerala, 18 from Odisha, and three each from Maharashtra and Jharkhand, among other states.
With this latest list of 111 candidates, the BJP has announced a total of 398 nominees for the elections to the 543-member Lok Sabha, excluding four who withdrew after their names sparked controversy.
