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Lok Sabha Elections 2024 : In a significant move, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has revealed its initial list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to seek re-election from Varanasi, as announced by BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde at the party’s press conference held at the national headquarters in Delhi on Saturday.
The list encompasses candidates from various states, with 51 seats allocated in Uttar Pradesh, 20 in West Bengal, 24 in Madhya Pradesh, 15 each in Gujarat and Rajasthan, 12 in Kerala, 9 in Telangana, 11 in Assam, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh each, 5 in Delhi, and a few in other states and union territories.
PM Modi expressed confidence in the party’s track record of good governance, emphasizing the commitment to ensuring progress reaches the most vulnerable. He extended congratulations to the nominated candidates and conveyed best wishes for the elections.
I thank the @BJP4India leadership and bow to the crores of selfless Party Karyakartas for their constant faith in me. I look forward to serving my sisters and brothers of Kashi for the third time.
In 2014, I went to Kashi with a commitment to fulfil people’s dreams and empower…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 2, 2024
Vinod Tawade provided insights into the candidate selection, highlighting that the list includes 34 Central Ministers and Ministers of State (MoS), featuring Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and two former Chief Ministers. Notably, 28 candidates are women, 47 are below 50 years of age, 27 belong to Scheduled Castes (SC), and 18 to Scheduled Tribes (ST). The party is fielding 57 Other Backward Class (OBC) candidates out of the total 195.
The BJP has decided to field Kiren Rijiju and Tapir Gao once again from Arunachal Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls. The late Sushma Swaraj’s daughter, Bansuri Swaraj, is set to contest from the New Delhi constituency, while Amit Shah will contest from Gujarat’s Gandhinagar.
Vinod Tawade emphasized the party’s dedication to public interest under PM Modi’s leadership over the past decade. He outlined the aspirational goal for the upcoming elections, stating, “This time the Sankalp should be BJP 370 and NDA 400 ‘par.'”
Several prominent names, including Ramesh Bidhuri, Parvesh Verma, Meenakshi Lehi, Harsh Vardhan, and Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, have been omitted from the list. Tawade clarified that the finalization process involved extensive discussions after opinion polls, resulting in the selection of candidates for 195 seats across 16 states and two union territories in the recent Central Election Committee meeting.
