BJP declares candidates for remaining five Lok Sabha seats in MP

The seats where new candidates were fielded are Morena, Gwalior, Sagar, Bhopal, Damoh, Sidhi, Jabalpur, Hoshangabad, Ratlam, Vidisha, Guna, Balaghat, Chhindwara and Dhar.The seats where sitting MPs were given tickets again are Bhind Sandhya Rai, Tikamgarh Union Minister Virendra Kumar, Khajuraho state BJP president V D Sharma, Satna Ganesh Singh, Rewa Janardan Mishra, Shahdol Himadri Singh, Mandla Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste, Rajgarh Rodmal Nagar, Dewas Mahendra Singh Solanki, Mandsaur Sudhir Gupta, Khargone Gajendra Patel, Khandwa Gyaneshwar Patil and Betul Durgadas Uikey, Indore Shankar Lalwani and Ujjain Anil Firoziya.

The BJP on Wednesday declared candidates for the remaining five Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, including Vivek Bunty Sahu who would take on sitting Congress MP Nakul Nath in Chhindwara.

On March 2, the party had declared its first list for 24 out of 29 seats in the state. Former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia figured in the first list while Pragya Singh Thakur, the controversial parliamentarian from Bhopal, was dropped.

Two sitting MPs -- Shankar Lalwani (Indore) and Anil Firoziya (Ujjain) -- were renominated in the second list.

In Dhar, the party fielded Savitri Thakur who was a Lok Sabha member from 2014 to 2019, dropping sitting MP Chattar Singh Darbar.

It fielded a new face, Dr Bharti Pardhi, in Naxal-affected Balaghat district, dropping sitting MP Dhal Singh Bisen. Dr Pardhi is a municipal corporator.

In Chhindwara, the BJP fielded its district unit chief Vivek Bunty Sahu who had contested unsuccessfully against former chief minister Kamal Nath in 2018 and 2023 assembly polls.

With the announcement of candidates by both Congress and the BJP, speculation about Nath joining the BJP is likely to end.

Overall, the BJP which had won 28 out of 29 seats in the state last time (except Chhindwara) has given tickets to 14 new candidates. The seats where new candidates were fielded are Morena, Gwalior, Sagar, Bhopal, Damoh, Sidhi, Jabalpur, Hoshangabad, Ratlam, Vidisha, Guna, Balaghat, Chhindwara and Dhar.

The seats where sitting MPs were given tickets again are Bhind (Sandhya Rai), Tikamgarh (Union Minister Virendra Kumar), Khajuraho (state BJP president V D Sharma), Satna (Ganesh Singh), Rewa (Janardan Mishra), Shahdol (Himadri Singh), Mandla (Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste), Rajgarh (Rodmal Nagar), Dewas (Mahendra Singh Solanki), Mandsaur (Sudhir Gupta), Khargone (Gajendra Patel), Khandwa (Gyaneshwar Patil) and Betul (Durgadas Uikey), Indore (Shankar Lalwani) and Ujjain (Anil Firoziya). In the November 2023 assembly elections, the ruling party had fielded seven MPs including Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Prahlad Patel.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)