Nitin Gadkari, ML Khattar, Anurag Thakur feature in BJP's second list of 72 candidates for LS Polls
New Delhi/IBNS: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday released the second list of 72 candidates from 11 states for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The list contains big names like Manohar Lal Khattar, Nitin Gadkari, Anurag Thakur, Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North), and Tejasvi Surya, among others.
As per the list released by the party, candidates have been announced for 20 seats each from Karnataka and Maharashtra, 7 seats from Gujarat, 6 seats each from Haryana and Telangana, 5 from Madhya Pradesh, 2 each from Delhi, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and one each from Tripura and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.
Manohar Lal Khattar who resigned from the post of the chief Minister in Haryana, will be contesting from Karnal, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari retained his Nagpur seat, while Thakur will be contesting from Hamirpur seat from Himachal Pradesh.
Former Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai will contest from Haveri, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya will test his luck from Bangalore South, and Union Minister Piyush Goyal will contest from Mumbai North.
The BJP announced Harsh Malhotra as its Lok Sabha candidate from East Delhi and Yogendra Chandolia from North West Delhi.
In Karnataka, the BJP is fielding around 10 new faces, after its big defeat in the recent assembly election.
Among the known faces is Union minister Pralhad Joshi, who will contest from Dharwad while former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa's son BY Raghavendra will contest from Shimoga.
In Bengaluru South, Tejasvi Surya, the BJP's youth wing chief, will seek re-election. Yaduveer Krishnadatta Wadiyar of the erstwhile Mysore royal family has replaced Pratap Simha as the candidate for Mysore seat.
On March 2, the BJP released its first list of 195 candidates from 16 states and two Union Territories (UTs).