BJP selects Arun Govil, delays decision on Brij Bhushan’s seat, excludes Varun Gandhi
Lucknow, March 24 (IANS) The BJP has announced the replacement of sitting MP Rajendra Agarwal with Arun Govil, the Ram of ‘Ramayana’ serial, from Meerut. The party has also denied tickets to Varun Gandhi from Pilibhit and Sanghmitra Maurya from Budaun in the latest list of 13 candidates released on Sunday.
Jitin Prasada will now contest the Pilibhit seat, Durvijay Shakya will be the candidate in Budaun. Atul Garg replaces Gen V.K. Singh (retd) in Ghaziabad, and Anoop Valmiki replaces Rajvir Singh Diler in Hathras. Maneka Gandhi and Satish Gautam will contest Sultanpur and Aligarh seats, respectively.
Sarvesh Singh will contest the Moradabad seat, Raghav Lakhanpal in Saharanpur, and Ramesh Awasthi in Kanpur. Former Union Minister Santosh Gangwar has been replaced by Chhatrapal Gangwar in Bareilly, and Upendra Rawat by Rajrani Rawat in Barabanki. Akshaywar Lal Gond has been replaced by Dr. Arvind Gond in Bahraich.
The BJP has not yet announced a candidate for Kaiserganj, the seat held by former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. This latest move indicates the party’s strategic candidate selection as the countdown to the upcoming elections begins. The replacements and renominations reflect the BJP’s focus on fielding strong contenders in key constituencies to secure victory.
