Lok Sabha elections: BJP releases 2nd list with 72 candidates
What's the story
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday unveiled its second list of 72 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
This comes two days after the second meeting of the BJP's Central Election Committee, which took place in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The list features prominent names like Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal and former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
Context
Why does this story matter?
For the 2024 elections, the BJP has set the goal of securing 370 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats and is working to win 400 for the National Democratic Alliance.
The party has already named candidates for 195 seats spread across 16 states and two union territories.
Notably, the two lists have been released even before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections schedule.
Candidates list
Candidates declared for multiple constituencies in 10 states
Candidates have been declared for two seats in Delhi, seven seats in Gujarat, six seats in Haryana, two seats in Himachal Pradesh, 20 seats in Karnataka, five seats in Madhya Pradesh, 20 seats in Maharashtra, six seats in Telangana, one seat in Tripura, and two seats in Uttarakhand.
Additionally, candidates have also been announced for Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Ex-Haryana CM
A day after resignation, Khattar named in 2nd list
A fresh face in the second list is former Haryana CM Khattar, who resigned from his post on Tuesday.
The senior BJP leader had put in his papers after a rift in the ruling BJP-Jannayak Janata Party alliance over seat-sharing arrangements for the 2024 elections.
State BJP chief Nayab Singh Saini replaced Khattar as the new Haryana CM.
First list
First list includes 34 central ministers, MoS
In the first list, the party nominated PM Modi for the third consecutive time as its candidate from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
Additionally, Union Home Minister Amit Shah was confirmed to contest once more from Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The first list also included the names of 34 central ministers and ministers of state, along with two former CMs.
MPs swapped
Controversial MPs dropped from BJP's first list
In its first list, the party swapped out 33 sitting MPs for fresh faces.
The list included five candidates for Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, of which four are replacements for sitting MPs.
Notably absent from the list were controversial leaders like Parvesh Singh Verma, Jayant Sinha, Pragya Singh Thakur, and Ramesh Bidhuri.