Newly inducted members industrialist Naveen Jindal, Ranjit Chautala and former judge of Calcutta High Court Abhijit Gangopadhyay, and actor Kangana Ranaut have been fielded by the BJP in its fifth election list that was announced this evening. The 111 names announced cover 17 states and includes all six slots from its quota in Andhra Pradesh, all 17 from Bihar, 21 from Odisha, and 19 from Bengal.
The party has dropped Varun Gandhi, though his mother Maneka Gandhi has been fielded from Sultanpur. Varun Gandhi’s seat, Pilibhit, has gone to former Congressman Jitin Prasada, who changed sides in the run-up to the election.
The other key leaders who got the pink slip are Union ministers Ashwini Kumar Choubey and General VK Singh, and former Union minister Anant Kumar Hegde.
Senior leader and Kerala BJP chief K Surendran will contest against Congress’s Rahul Gandhi from Kerala’s Wayanad.
Ranjit Chautala, the son of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, will contest from Hisar. Kangana Ranaut will contest her first election from Mandi in her home state Himachal Pradesh.
Actor Arun Govil, who played Ram in popular TV serial Ramayan, has been fielded by the BJP from the Meerut Lok Sabha seat held.
Former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who joined the BJP recently after taking voluntary retirement, will contest from Bengal’s Tamluk. He is the first retired judge to join electoral politics, moving away from the way the judiciary has so far distanced itself.
In Odisha, the party fielded two key leaders — Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan from Sambhalpur and Sambit Patra from Puri.
Another new member, Sita Soren, will contest from Jharkhand’s Dumka.
Union minister Giriraj Singh has been fielded from Begusarai and former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib.