Lok Sabha polls 2024: BJP holds second meeting to discuss 99 seats, ex-K'taka CM may be fielded, say sources

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Central Election Committee on Monday held its second meeting to decide on the next list of candidates for the upcoming general elections. The saffron party discussed on the names of candidates for 99 seats in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Chandigarh, India Today reported citing sources aware of the matter. 

They added that former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's name may feature on the second list. The former Chief Minister is likely to be fielded from the Haveri-Gadag seat in the state. The meeting, held at the party headquarters in New Delhi, was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with BJP national president J P Nadda and other senior leaders. 

Ananthkumar Hegde, Shobha Karandlaje likely to be dropped from Karnataka 

The BJP is likely to drop Ananthkumar Hegde from Uttara Kannada constituency amid a controversy over his remarks on changing the Constitution of India. Hegde recently said the BJP needs a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to amend the Constitution and "set right distortions and unnecessary additions made to it by the Congress."

Shobha Karandlaje is also likely to be dropped from the Udupi Chikmangalore seat. She will likely be shifted to the Bengaluru North seat. Many leaders in the state wrote to Nadda, asking him not to give her a ticket, as per sources. 

Pratap Simha from Mysuru, former Union Minister GM Siddeshwara from Davangere, Yarabasi Devendrappa from Bellary, Karadi Sanganna Amarappa from Koppal, and ex-state BJP President and Mangaluru MP Nalin Kumar Kateel are also likely to be dropped. 

BJP's alliances in Haryana, Andhra Pradesh

Ahead of the CEC meeting, BJP supremo J P Nadda held talks with Haryana Deputy CM and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Dushyant Chautala over distribution of seats in the state.

In Andhra Pradesh, the BJP has teamed up with the Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party (JSP). 

As per the seat-sharing agreement, the BJP will contest 6 Lok Sabha seats in the state whereas TDP and JSP will fight on 17 and 2 seats respectively. This agreement also noted that the BJP will contest on 10 Assembly states whereas the TDP and JSP will get 144 and 21 seats respectively. 

BJP's first list of Lok Sabha candidates

The BJP on March 2 released its first list of 195 Lok Sabha candidates, which included 34 ministers. As per this list, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will contest from Varanasi for the third time. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will contest from Gandhinagar whereas Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will fight from Lucknow. 

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will contest from Porbandar. The party announced candidates for 15 out of 26 seats in Gujarat. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has been fielded from Guna whereas former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been fielded from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh.

Furthermore, Smriti Irani will contest from Amethi for the third time after 2014 and 2019. In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP fielded former BSP MP Ritesh Pandey from Ambedkar Nagar. Ravi Kishan, Hema Malini, Mahesh Sharma, Ajay Mishra Teni, SPS Baghel and Sakshi Maharaj are among those who have been repeated from their seats. 

Of the 195 candidates, Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh and Upendra Rawat opted out of the electoral race due to controversies.