- Saturday, April 27, 2024
Veteran industrialist Naveen Jindal, who was in the opposition Indian National Congress earlier, has also been fielded by the Hindu nationalist party.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by prime minister Narendra Modi announced on Sunday (24) its fifth list of candidates for the general elections beginning on April 19 and they include names of prominent actors Kangana Ranaut and Arun Govil and industrialist Naveen Jindal.
Ranaut, who is a vocal supporter of the BJP and calls herself a fan of the prime minister, will contest the elections from Mandi in her home state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India. Govil, who is known for his role of Lord Ram in the popular television serial “Ramayan” which was aired for the first time in the 1980s, was picked to contest from Meerut in the state of Uttar Pradesh. He replaced seasoned parliamentarian Rajendra Agarwal who has won from the constituency thrice since 2009.
In the past, Nitish Bhardwaj, who had portrayed the role of Lord Krishna in the mega serial ‘Mahabharat’, which was also telecast around the time of ‘Ramayan’, had contested election on the BJP’s ticket and won. Gajendra Chauhan, who played Yudhisthira in the same serial, has also been a member of the BJP, while Rupa Ganguly, who was cast as Droupadi in ‘Mahabharat’, has been a BJP’s MP in the Rajya Sabha or Upper House of the parliament.
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Jindal, who quit the Indian National Congress and joined the BJP on Sunday, also featured in the list. The 54-year-old was fielded from Kurukshetra, the constituency in the northern state of Haryana which he represented on behalf of his previous party between 2004-14.
BJP releases 5th list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Nityanand Rai to contest from Ujiarpur.
Giriraj Singh from Begusarai.
Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib.
Kangana Ranaut from Mandi.
Naveen Jindal from Kurukshetra.
Sita Soren from Dumka.
Jagadish… pic.twitter.com/xQOR2BDpA0— ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2024
Two other leaders who also joined the BJP — Ranjit Chautala from Hisar and Varaprasad Rao from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh in southern India — also got opportunities to contest the elections.
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Three leaders who joined the BJP on Sunday figured in the list — Naveen Jindal from Kurukshetra, Haryana government minister Ranjit Chautala from Hisar (both in Haryana), and Varaprasad Rao from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.
The BJP fielded K Surendran, its chief in the southern state of Kerala, to contest against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad, where the latter won in the 2019 election.
The Hindu nationalist party also named candidates in the states of West Bengal, Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha and Jharkhand, among others.
Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a former judge at the Calcutta High Court in Bengal, was fielded from Tamluk constituency in the state.
PM Modi’s name was announced in the first list that came out on March 2 and he will contest from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, which he won in 2014 and 2019.
