LS polls: BJP releases second list; Gadkari, Bommai in fray, Pratap Simha dropped

The BJP on Wednesday (March 13) named 72 more candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Anurag Thakur, and former chief ministers Manohar Lal Khattar, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Basavaraj Bommai.

BJP chief spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni has been fielded from Garhwal in Uttarakhand.

In Delhi, the party has fielded two new candidates -- Harsh Malhotra from East Delhi and Yogendra Chandolia from North West Delhi.

Karnataka: Mysore royal scion, noted cardiac surgeon to contest

In Karnataka, Union minister Pralhad Joshi will fight from Dharwad while former chief minister B S Yediyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra will contest from Shimoga.

The party has replaced nine sitting MPs including former chief minister D V Sadanada Gowda from Bangalore North, Prathap Simha from Mysuru and former state BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel from Dakshina Kannada.

Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje, who was facing some resistance for re-nomination within the party from Udupi-Chikmagalur, has been shifted to Bangalore North, which is currently represented by Sadananda Gowda.

Kota Srinivas Poojary, who is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, would now contest from Udupi-Chikmagalur. In Bellary, the party has fielded ST community leader and former Minister B Sriramulu.

Noted cardiac surgeon and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda's son-in-law Dr C N Manjunath has been fielded from Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha segment, where he will face sitting Congress MP and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's brother DK Suresh.

Those who have retained the candidature include Annasaheb Jolle (Chikkodi), P C Gaddigoudar (Bagalkot), Ramesh Jigajinagi (Bijapur), Umesh Jadhav (Gulbarga), Bhagwanth Khuba (Bidar), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad), B Y Raghavendra (Shimoga), P C Mohan (Bangalore Central) and Tejasvi Surya (Bangalore South).

Former Minister V Somonna has been given a ticket from Tumkur, which was represented by G S Basavaraj, and in Davangere segment, sitting MP G M Siddeshwara has been replaced by his wife Gayathri Siddeshwara.

Dr Basavaraj Kyavator has got the ticket in Koppal replacing Karadi Sanganna, Sriramulu in Bellary in place of Y Devendrappa, Bommai in Haveri in place of Shivakumar Udasi, Brijesh Chowta in Dakshina Kannada replacing Kateel, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar in Mysuru in the place of Prathap Simha and S Balaraj in Chamarajanagar instead of Srinivas Prasad.

Chamarajanagar MP V Srinivas Prasad and Haveri MP Shivakumar Udasi had already announced political retirement after the current term ends.

While candidates for 20 Lok Sabha seats from the state were declared on Wednesday, the party is expected to announce the rest eight in its next list.

BJP won 25 of the 28 seats in the state in the 2019 elections.

Maharashtra: 8 new faces get ticket

Besides Gadkari and Goyal, the party has fielded former state minister Pankaja Munde among the 20 candidates for the Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra. The state has a total of 48 Lok Sabha seats.

While Gadkari was re-nominated from Nagpur seat, commerce minister Goyal (Mumbai North) and Munde (Beed) were among eight fresh faces in the list. Pankaja replaced her younger sister and sitting MP Pritam Munde. Gadkari's name had not appeared in the BJP's first list, prompting Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to give him an open offer to contest as the Opposition's candidate.

Another new face in the second list was state forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar (Chandrapur). Besides, all Union ministers from Maharashtra were given tickets again.

The party replaced Jalgaon Lok Sabha member Unmesh Patil by fielding local leader Smita Wagh. Anup Dhotre replaced his father and sitting Akola MP Sanjay Dhotre in the list.

From Pune, the party fielded former mayor Murlidhar Mohol. The seat is vacant since the death of incumbent BJP MP Girish Bapat.

MLA Mihir Kotecha was fielded from Mumbai North-East, replacing current MP Manoj Kotak.

Earlier this month, the BJP had announced its first list of more than 190 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, due in April-May.

(With inputs from agencies)