Lok Sabha polls 2024: Gadkari, Khattar, Goyal in BJP second list, 28 MPs dropped

The BJP Wednesday released its second list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, dropping at least 28 sitting MPs while including three former Chief Ministers, nine Union Ministers, two Rajya Sabha MPs and 15 women.

If the party’s first list of 195 candidates, released on March 2, was more about continuity with a large number of candidates being retained, the second list of 72 candidates signalled change and an emphasis on selection based on the winnability factor. With the second list, the BJP has announced all its candidates for Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Tripura and Uttarakhand.

Manohar Lal Khattar, who resigned as Haryana Chief Minister Tuesday and vacated his Karnal Assembly seat Wednesday, has been fielded from the Karnal Lok Sabha constituency.

While Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has been retained from Nagpur, his colleague Piyush Goyal, Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, will be contesting from Mumbai North.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi has been fielded again from Dharwad in Karnataka while Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje has been moved from Udupi Chikmagalur to the Bangalore North constituency.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur will again contest from the Hamirpur constituency in Himachal Pradesh.

BJP’s media cell head Anil Baluni, who is currently a Rajya Sabha MP, has been fielded from Uttarakhand’s Garhwal constituency. Tejasvi Surya, who heads the party’s youth wing, has been retained in Bangalore South.

Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will contest from Haveri. He is the fifth former CM to be handed the party ticket – the first list had Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) and Biplab Kumar Deb (Tripura) while the second list named Khattar, Bommai and