These 34 Ministers Feature In BJP's First List For Lok Sabha Elections, Here's All You Need To Know

In a strategic move aiming for an early advantage in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has revealed a list of 195 candidates, even before the official poll dates have been announced.

The list features prominent figures such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be contesting from Varanasi for the third time, and Home Minister Amit Shah, who will be fielded again from Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to contest from Lucknow, while Smriti Irani will fight from Amethi, where she secured a victory against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in 2019.

The list comprises 34 central and state ministers, including two former chief ministers, as per NDTV's report.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will contest from Porbandar in Gujarat, while Rajya Sabha member and minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar will contest from Thiruvananthapuram, a seat currently held by Congress' Shashi Tharoor.

Union minister and Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia will contest from Guna in Madhya Pradesh, a constituency the former Congress leader had held since 2002 until his loss to the BJP's Krishna Pal Singh Yadav in 2019.

Sarbananda Sonowal will fight from Dibrugarh in Assam, Arjun Ram Meghwal from Bikaner, G Kishan Reddy from Secunderabad and Arjun Munda from Khunti in Jharkhand.

Despite facing controversies, Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni will contest from the Kheri constituency again.

Teni's son, Ashish, had been jailed for his alleged involvement in mowing down four farmers in Lakhmipur Kheri in 2021 and justice for the victims has been one of the key demands in the ongoing protests against the Union government. 

The BJP's candidate selection process involved extensive deliberations and surveys, including feedback from voters and evaluations of sitting MPs' performances.

The party's use of technology, including the Namo App, played a crucial role in finalising candidates, especially in constituencies where the BJP had not won in 2019.