New Delhi: The BJP on Sunday released its second list of candidates for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. Prominent names in the list of total 155 candidates included Union home minister Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj Singh, former Congress UP unit chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, party’s national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh, former BSP leader Brajesh Pathak and party’s Kairana MP Hukum Singh’s daughter Mriganka Singh.
The BJP has also fielded senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh’s first wife, Garima Singh, from Amethi Assembly constituency. Kaiserganj MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s son, Prateek, from Gonda, while party’s state spokesperson Hridyanara-yan Dikshit has been fielded from Bhagwant Nagar.
The party earlier released 149 names, and with this list, total seats from where candidates have been announced are 304.
While Pankaj Singh will be contesting from Noida, Ms Joshi will contest from Lucknow Cantt, which she won during the last elections on Congress ticket. Siddharth Nath Singh, who is BJP’s in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, has been fielded from Allahabad West and Pathak from Lucknow Central. Mriganka Singh will contest from Kairana Assembly seat.
Among the family members of BJP leaders, who have been given ticket include party veteran Lalji Tandon’s son Ashutosh Tandon, who had won Lucknow parliamentary seat bypoll in 2014. The BJP has fielded Sanjay Gupta, considered close to party’s state unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, from Chayal and Nand Kumar ‘Nandi’ Gupta from Allahabad South.
Mr Gupta was expelled from the BSP and had then contested last general elections on Congress ticket, but joined the BJP with his wife, Abhilasha Gupta, earlier this week. Ms Gupta is the Allahabad mayor. Harsh Bajpai, grandson of late Congress stalwart Rajendra Kumari Bajpai, who, along with his father, was expelled from the BSP couple of years back, has been fielded from Allahabad North. Though the party has so far given tickets to OBCs, SCs, Thakurs, Brahmins, Kayas-thas, it is yet to field any Muslim candidate.
When asked about absence of Muslim nominees in the list, BJP general secretary Arun Singh, who released the second list, said there was “no suitable” candidate.
